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Reviews
The Manson Family (1997)
this movie is HORRIBLE and AMAZING ***spoilers***
***spoilers***
I have to write this review to get this experience out of my system, because this was not an easy movie to watch. This movie is disgusting, disturbing, harrowing, at times ludicrous, sad, and almost consistently riveting. It is also the richest in detail and most accurate retelling of it's subject matter that I've ever seen.
I very recently became interested in the Manson Family legend after watching the Helter Skelter TV remake (also a good movie for different reasons, also unfairly slammed by critics) and the original. A combination of things make it interesting; the sociological perspective, a turbulent era I'm too young to remember (born two months before the murders - Sharon Tate's son would have been almost exactly my age), the slimy underbelly of late 60's Southern California hippiedom, the mythos of LA and Hollywood. It all comes together in this fateful, horrific tale.
Ironically, Manson is to me the least interesting aspect of the family's history. What's more interesting are the kids who so willingly descended into madness. And that's who this movie is about.
What is most outstanding about this film is Van Bebbers faithfulness to the subject. His research was beyond meticulous. It was amazing to hear dialogue that sometimes exactly matched the different things I've been reading in books and online. I loved the re-enacted interviews from the 1972 Documentary "Manson". As with some of the narrative Van Bebber obviously took some liberties but this also works to the films advantage because many of the perpetrators to this day have slightly differing takes on exactly what happened (i.e. Did or did not Patricia Krenwinkle chase Abigail Folger out the door onto the front lawn and deliver many blows? This film suggests not).
Van Bebber sets out to portray from an insider perspective what was going on with these people, and more than any other retelling I've seen or read this film conveys the sheer lunacy involved; there were numerous "hippie" communes in this era where people took drugs, had group sex, and talked philosophy, but we see this one veer off in a grisly direction. We feel the sheltered, cult-like paranoia that slowly took over Spahn Ranch. A good example; the game where they sit around a campfire at night, drop acid, stare at an empty chair that symbolized "the pig establishment". They would judge this invisible man and project his fear back onto him. SHUDDER!
The murders and gore: I'm a big fan of good horror movies, but not gore. I had to look away several times during this movie, notably during the dog sacrifice, even though I knew it was only a movie, that was too much for me. The orgy complete with dog's blood and hallucinatory effects was over the top, but I understand Van Bebber had to take us there to show us exactly how twisted this reality was. Van Bebber drills into the audience a sense of what it must have been like to actually be present in the rooms when these poor victims were being slaughtered, to a harrowing degree. Most notably, Rosemary stumbling around the room and falling to the floor covered in her own blood as Patty coos gently, sweetly "Die, pig, die" while thrusting the knife into Rosemary's back. This was one of the creepiest most disturbing moments on film I have ever seen, it will take a while to shake it from my head. It literally made me want to petition the California Parole Board to NEVER let Patricia Krenwinkle (or any of them) out of jail. Other than that, the murders are scary but the special effects often looked fake/unnatural. IN MY OPINION THIS IS A GOOD THING. Like I said, not a fan of gore. We are thankfully spared a detailed Sharon Tate murder beyond her heartbreaking pleas to "take me with you!" (That might have been a fate worse than death if you think about it.) but the actress' screams which fade into the image of Abigail Folger's "death walk" are so incredibly sad and truthful. These people endured true horror at the hands of their killers, conveyed by this movie in a way that written accounts cannot.
The acting: Wow. There are reminders of amateurism along the way. But kudos to the cast, most notably Leslie Orr as Patti and Maureen Allisse as Sadie. Truly effective and creepy performances. Marc Pitman is intense and effective as Tex, but his physical differences from the real Tex Watson were distracting. I also think Jim Van Bebber is a better actor than he thinks he is. But another nit-pick: The aging make-up effects in the modern day media "interviews" were also distracting.
I would have liked to have seen more of Linda Kasabian's post trial take on things. I'm still not sure how I feel about the modern day Mansonite punk subplot.
Overall, a no holds barred depiction with an impressive attention to detail. Yes, it's low budget, 16mm, it's obvious they aren't filming in California, and there are other flaws, but those are forgivable. This was a herculean effort on the part of the filmmakers. It's obvious why this film has been so polarizing. Despite the gruesome, horrifying, and very sad subject matter, I for one and happy to be in the camp that believes this film is a triumph for the filmmakers. I also think this movie should be viewed by the parole board every time one of these sick fucks comes up for review.