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...

Joseph P. Ulibas Manson (1972) was an excellent documentary following the exploits of one Charlie Manson and his family. Unlike the boring and sanitized for the establishment "Helter Skelter", this film takes you within Charlie's inner circle within the family. Folks this stuff is real. The one on one interviews are geniunely frightening whilst the film-making is top notch. Parts of this movie was later referenced in "House of a 1,000 Corpses". If you ever wanted to find out what it's like hanging with the family, then this one's for you. Great stuff, highly recommended.I enjoyed this movie very much. I wish a restored version of this masterpiece would be re-released sometime in the near future. This is time capsule material. Worth seeking out. Not as preachy or silly as the made-for-t.v. mini-series Helter Skelter or as finger pointing as the book.Axxx

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).

GroovyDoom This documentary not only captures the deranged philosophy of the Manson family, but it looks sleazy overall. Much of the footage is grainy and unsteady, adding to the brittle feel of the movie, but the interviews with Manson's followers speak for themselves. Makes for interesting viewing in conjunction with "Gimmie Shelter", which documented the clash of hippie culture and violent bikers at the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway. Both of these events signalled the end of the "flower power" movement, but these two movies seem to point out the danger that mind-altering drugs can pose to suggestible kids. Indeed, a lot of the interviews contained in "Manson" outline the essential role of marijuana and acid in the lifestyle of "the family," and the film clearly posits that Manson used drugs, as well as sex, to brainwash his followers. What's most terrifying about this movie are the candid appearances of the Manson women, staring wide-eyed and generally behaving like automatons. The time was clearly right for an evil individual such as Charles Manson to invade a supposedly peace-loving culture like the hippies, stoned and generally aimless, and orchestrate chaos, and the altered state that these people were in clearly contributed to their own propensity for disillusion and mind control. What comes off as mostly lacking is the depiction of Manson himself. Although the filmmakers give plenty of background on him, the bizarre images of this man contained in the film do very little to give an accurate depiction of how he must have appeared to his followers. I was haunted by the lingering question of what could possibly have motivated Charles Manson to orchestrate these heinous murders, and even worse is to think that his wishes were carried out by kids who came from seemingly normal backgrounds.The use of split-screen, as well as the "flower power" soundtrack, add to the quintessentially 70s feel of the movie, but even through all the kitschy hippie images, the shocking nature of the murders, and the tragic phenomenon of Manson's cult, remains. It left me feeling dirty and disturbed after watching it.