Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

louie-bergquist In 1969, a group of drug-addled hippies committed a string of murders in Los Angeles County, the first to get their money back from a dope deal gone bad, the rest as a pot- inspired half-arsed ploy to smokescreen the police. A deputy district attorney named Vincent Bugliosi was desperate to make a name for himself. A marriage was made in headlines. Bugliosi knew the story at face value wasn't salacious enough to sell books, so he began to fabricate an intricate yarn tying the whole mess to a career convict that these stoner dropouts had been following around. He dazzled the press with grandiose tales of a flower-power Jesus figure who brainwashed clean-cut middle-class kids with sex and LSD, and ordered the enslaved to commit murders out of an apocalyptic race-war paranoia. Also involved in this wild fable were an "English recording group" called the Beatles, who gave this Mescaline Messiah his visions through a white-jacketed double album featuring the song "Helter Skelter". In the process, Bugliosi turned a petty criminal named Charlie Manson into a creation of media mythology named Charles Manson, Evil Incarnate.There are some good reasons for Manson enthusiasts to watch this movie; there is extensive footage of the Spahn Ranch and the remaining stragglers from the so-called Manson Family. The interviews with Sandra Good and Danny Bonaduce-doppelganger Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme are amusing, as they feed into Bugliosi's made-for-TV mythos of hippies-turned- killers by mugging with various deadly weapons. But the ringmaster here is clearly Bugliosi and his spin on the events, which is obvious from his shameless hamming for the camera from first introductory shot. And the obnoxious narrator sounds like a drunken Jack Webb, inflecting overt judgement at every turn (I get especially nauseous when he fawns about "beautiful, honey-blonde Sharon Tate" or derisively snides that Manson's girls think "everyone should have a father like Charlie"). The interviews with the visibly high Paul Watkins are especially insipid, as he leans on his ever-present flute trying to remember what Bugliosi- orchestrated revisioning of family philosophy he's parroting.For anyone trying to suss out what actually happened that summer of 1969, look elsewhere. Anyone interested in seeing a contemporary slab of propaganda released for the sole purpose of exploiting Vincent Bugliosi's nascent wet dream, this is for you.

laubklein2 First things first...I have been interested in the Manson Murders for over two decades. I tend to give movies, art pieces on Manson a wide birth. If I gave these things a narrow birth, this would still be a fantastic film.Everything these people say this film does it does.It is a portrait of very stupid people.It is scary.And it is like hanging out with a bunch freaky murderers...But there is more. This is the only film that captures the family at it's "height". (For those of you who say there was no family I use this term to encompass the entire group that worked with Manson.) It is also a fantastic vision for why people and countries need to think on their own. These sheep who were lead to slaughter were led there because of their inability to think for themselves. Most of these people were women. We must remember that this case pre-dates the modern feminist movement by five years. So it was more likely that certain women would be able to put under the influence of a manipulative genius...or a scummy little ex-con. Not that this couldn't happen today...(except for certain sociological reasons it really actually couldn't).There is more to this case but the problem is a lot of the books on this case are badly written...so be it...my recommendations are Taming the Beast and Helter Skelter...also The Family has a ton of information but is quite simply one of the worst written books on earth.The Film gets a little lost and the end and begins to meander but one can attribute this to the druggy feel of this film rather then the fact that the filmmakers may have run out of things to say on this film.What also makes this film interesting is that most of the women do seem extremely intelligent (Mary Brunner and Gypsy should be excluded). It is too bad that these filmmakers couldn't or wouldn't get interviews with the families of these women. This would have pushed this film towards perfection maybe even making it a perfect documentary.There are also a few mysteries that go along with this film. One is why is this not a really well known documentary? Another is Why have there never been a soundtrack released and why has this never been released on DVD officially? Also there is the murder of one of the filmmakers in the parking lot of an acting school that Sharon Tate had attended. Also there have never been any interviews of the filmmakers and there never seems to be any evidence of say the critical reviews of this film. We must remember this film was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary so someone seems to have seen this film. I guess no one wanted to discuss it.If you are thinking of buying this film go for it...you wouldn't regret it... it will chill you to the bone and make you laugh because of it's narration...

alanmora There have been many, many books written and movies made about the infamous Charles Manson case but this is the definitive film to watch because every second of it is REAL! While films like "Helter Skelter" and "The Manson Family" are compelling and others such as "Manson Family Movies" are below par this film stands head and shoulders above the rest because everything you are seeing is real. There are no actors/actresses in this movie. This movie shows the real Manson family members and holds nothing back as they discuss all of their daily activities on the Ranch from the bizarre sex orgies and drug induced "freak outs" to the various births and murders that took place within the family. Here, the Manson family members speak out and offer their philosophy to the world and the viewer gets a true sense of just how evil these people truly were. Manson's music is even heard on the soundtrack, sung by Manson himself. If you are looking for the most accurate portrayal of what these people were truly like and what life was like for them everyday and what might have driven them to commit the horrible crimes that they did then this is the film to watch!

planet_mamoo "Manson" was filmed in the early 1970s, when Charles Manson and several of his followers were in jail (still on death row at the time of filming, though their terms were later commuted to life imprisonment). At that time many members of the "family" were free and still sticking together, and were, amazingly, willing to appear in this documentary.This documentary offers a fascinating window into their world; at times frolicking, childlike in the wilderness, dancing, singing, laughing, swimming, riding horses ... but at other times looking at the camera, brandishing large rifles, shotguns and hunting knives, talking about love and killing and, of course, Manson.Perhaps the most mesmerizing of them is Squeaky Fromme, who a few years later would be sent to prison for trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford, though all of them are fascinating. The producers are careful to point out the solid, often highly educated backgrounds of these women.Also interviewed are a couple of men who fled the family around the time of the Tate-La Bianca murders, who talk about life inside the family. There are also interviews with past cellmates of the women, who tell often harrowing stories of things the murderous women told them.Underlying the movie is the stark generational divide of those times. While the past and present members of the family are young, expressive and with a loose, casual look, the appearance of the prosecutor who tried the case -- and whose own account of the trial, "Helter Skelter," (also a movie) is the main source of information on the case -- appears in a three-piece suit, an earnest tone of voice, and melodramatic mannerisms.If you're wondering why the Manson phenomenon happened, don't watch this hoping for an answer. And if you're looking for more information, don't bother. But if you want to see the people involved, hear them speak and find out how they thought, by all means give it a watch.An excellent documentary, largely forgotten nowadays (alas).