Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

stamatikokotas Drugs, Too Many Drugs, Going Absolutely Insane, Disturbing. Not recomemded for any setting after you have watched this movie you feel like the guy in "A clock work orange" like your sick from watching a movie. It's not A stupid movie it's just disturbing. I actually wish someone would have told me not to watch this movie. But I watched the whole thing. Do not watch this movie if you do not like disturbing images.I guess it's educational it influence's an anti drug use message.The Acting is Good convincing i sometimes think if the actors actually experimented with the drugs referenced in the movie. because there high seem's genuine. The acting is entertaining. the story is educational. But I can't recommend it If you want to watch it it's on you.

random_avenger Of all the highly publicized American murder cases of the 20th century, the massacres committed by cult leader Charles Manson's followers in 1969 are probably the most infamous. Despite never personally killing anyone, Manson is still often seen as some kind of embodiment of evil and thus an object of constant curiosity. Several films have been made about "The Family" over the decades, one of them being Jim Van Bebber's semi-mocumentary finally released in 2003 after having been in production for nearly 15 years.The frame story of the warped cinematic trip takes place in 1996 when a TV reporter named Jack Wilson (Carl Day) is preparing to interview the incarcerated Family members for his program. Some kind of strange modern followers of Manson have sent him a videotape and are not going to leave their interference at that. The bulk of the film consists of faux-interviews with the Family members and psychedelic flashbacks of scenes from the time preceding the murders. The interviewees Leslie, Bobby, Sadie, Patty and Tex seem to regret their actions, while Manson himself is only seen in the flashbacks as portrayed by Marcelo Games.Instead of a clear, tightly-written plot the jumpy movie favours a fragmented sensory mindf**k kind of approach to its subject. The film's exploitation roots become highly evident during the long home video-like flashbacks illustrating the interviewees' memories full of hazy drug use and gratuitous nudity and sex. The lighting is mostly very richly coloured in red or blue, creating a fittingly otherworldly feel to the scenes of cult bonding under the influence of the charismatic Manson who is seen entirely through the eyes of his followers: he doesn't speak much and remains a distant character throughout. The intentionally grainy, worn-out and damaged look of the film (not only the flashbacks) strengthens the alienating atmosphere as well.At times the film effectively captures the distressing, insane state of mind that the Family members can be imagined to have been in. The Devil worshipping orgy is a highlight among the bizarre scenes, but the colourfully lit final massacres testing the audiences' tolerance to excessive gore are a must see for any fan of hard horror too. The prolonged knife violence and maniacally laughing killers are pretty much what people (or at least me) are looking for in sleazy trash movies like this one anyway, so in that sense Van Bebber and Co. have achieved their goal with flying colours. Perhaps some of the acting is not the most realistic ever, but I cannot consider that a major flaw in a film that is so heavily focused on the effects of brainwashing and not being in touch with one's regular self.In a way The Manson Family is a relative of Oliver Stone's controversial media satire Natural Born Killers (1994), but ultimately comes across as sleazier and more nihilistic since the satirical aspect is less pronounced. I am not sure if the filmmakers have taken a lot of artistic license with the presentation of how the actual events took place; in the end it doesn't even matter since the movie never strives to be an accurate portrait of Manson as a person. As an examination of disturbing group psychosis it works enjoyably and is recommended to those into exploitative true crime stories.

krugstilo-1 THE MANSON FAMILY really is a work of art, and I rarely use that term. It's a savage, carefully made, justifiably violent mix of docu-crime film and '70s drive-in aesthetics. The strange thing is, I've seen low-budget films made for five or six million that look like garbage compared to THE MANSON FAMILY, and, if I'm not mistaken, all told, THE MANSON FAMILY cost less than two million. The editing is nothing short of mad genius. The effects are always convincing - and again, I've seen movies with much bigger budgets whose effects aren't half as real-looking. The acting is fine and, if T&A's your thing, the flick has gobs and gobs of nudity. Contrary to most reviews, I found it more beautiful than disturbing, although I completely agree with director VanBebber - the Manson family slaughtered virtually defenseless people like cattle and should never be viewed as some "hip" counterculture icon. I've always been a huge fan and proponent of VanBebber's work, ever since the early '90s when I purchased a VHS copy of DEADBEAT AT DAWN. It saddens me that VanBebber's script for a TOOLBOX MURDERS remake wasn't used (the ultimate Tobe Hooper remake was laughable and forgettable). I'm glad Phil Anselmo helped VanBebber get THE MANSON FAMILY finished. And, personally, I feel directors such as Tarantino should throw VanBebber a few million and just let him do whatever he wants. If I were in, for example, Tarantino's position, I'd write VanBebber a check and tell him, "Do whatever you want. Don't worry about paying it back, either." Jim VanBebber's a visionary and THE MANSON FAMILY is wholly unique and shouldn't have been so difficult to fund and finish. I'm eagerly awaiting VanBebber's next movie.

mhulsing Great intense movie found this film utterly amazing. I'm a sucker for exploitation cinema and would love the film for it's intensity alone. But this one manages to add many layers and unique qualities. Basically the film allows a certain amount of chaos in it's structure, especially at the beginning, but out of that arises a film that is strangely enough very coherent in the final (very strong) impression it left on me. A few things that stand out are the way in which the film has the period charm that belongs to sixties movies, not only in the feel of the colors and lightening but especially in the way the actors display a certain amateurish (by lack of a better word) enthusiasm, which could easily become tacky, but it doesn't. All actors portray perfect acid-heads. Especially the female actors manage this very well. There's lots of violence and nudity. All is very well timed and it comes in brilliant doses and one final appropriate over-dose. The modern day punky Mansonites add a nice underground feel to movie as well and allow the structure of the film to be broken open. I've read this film would not be for everyone. Yeah, I guess you could say that, but what does it mean? It probably helps when you are a sixties/seventies exploitation enthusiast but if you're not I would still advise you to see it as a work of film art that is not easily compared to anything else. It's raw and violent but is positive in it's creativity.