FILM REVIEWS

The Manson Family

Reviewed By

Tristan Sinns

Viewed as a factual historical account of the precise inner workings, conversations, and murderous activities of the notorius Manson family, Jim Van Bebber's film is questionable at best. However, viewed as an exploitation film of gore, shock, full frontal, and really dirty hippies, it delivers.

The Manson Family is structured in a series of mock interviews with Manson family members, intermixed with reenactments of various family debauchery (most often naked hippies humping in the mud) and murder. The overlying premise is that we are viewing information dredged up by a fictional reporter who is pursueing details of the infamous group and their crimes.

The story itself is relatively well known. The charismatic personality of Charles Manson lures a hodge podge collection of wayward youths into his cult-like circle, where any sense of morality breaks down until they are little more than humping, murdering savages. The acting itself often has its amatuerish moments, as does really every other aspect of the film, including dialogue, direction, and wardrobe (which includes some really bad fake mustaches). Manson himself is a little lacking, as it's never really apparent what it is that causes these young people to follow him with such ruthless loyalty. Manson, in this movie, is not charismatic. If anything, he's a hippy absurdity, a parody, something to be laughed at and dismissed. I realize casting is difficult when dealing with such an unusual personality, but I think there could have been improvement in how Manson was portrayed. In reality, he was a bit of a Rasputin of the 60's, a very powerful personality, if rather malevolent, and we just don't see that presented here.

The main "payoffs" of the film lie within the simple exploitation of dirty naked people rolling around followed by gristly gore and blood. The sex is particularly predominant throughout the first half to three-quarters of the movie, as the film works to establish the group's complete abandon of social ideals and morals as they plunge themselves into a frenzy of drugs and orgies. The murders themselves are shown with painful detail and an almost (but not quite) Herschell G. Lewis level of gore. The stabbing and screaming is shown in a prolonged manner, in order to drive in the savage nature of these kilings.

If the purpose of the film is to well establish the sickening nature of these people and their crimes, it succeeds, and then some. This was not a likeable group deserving of any sort of rebellious hero worship. Rather, they are portrayed as so many drugged out losers reveling in a hell of their own creation, people so miserable and lacking in any redeemable feature that they are reduced to the most basic animalistic attributes of fucking and killing. They are shown as pathetics, which is rather true to fact.

The film does suffer from some flaws, but fans of horror and crime stories may likely be entertained. There are moments that are truly creepy and a little sickening. This film is effective and does have some success, for what it is looking to do.