MANSON FAMILY DVD
Review by: Sean King

"The Manson Family" is a not for the faint of heart. In fact it is the most brutal and realistically violent films in recent years. This film may not please Manson aficionado's, but it may make any hard up gorehound, or fans
of VanBebber's incredible "Deadbeat At Dawn" very happy viewers. In the last 15 years or so during the film's troubled production, Jim VanBebber's "The Manson Family", or CHARLIES FAMILY as it was known in the underground for many years, has become a thing of myth. No one besides the
filmmakers it seemed knew what was the status of the film was. "The Manson Family" began production in 1988 and was sporadically covered in indie and horror film magazines, such as Deep Red and Rue Morgue.

The producers and finally released in 2004(!) on DVD and pretty much still stayed under the radar. Staying quite close to the actual events, the "Manson" story is told in interview clips and flashbacks from the family members being interviewed by a television tabloid reporter, Jack Wilson( Carl Day) doing a piece on the Manson murders. Wilson makes fun of the Manson followers and the cult of Manson. This pisses off a very violent and ugly gang of drug dealing Goth punks who are planning their own Manson style murder of the trashy TV reporter.
The events of the murders are staged almost like a low budget community play. For the most part the wardrobe and sets are amateurish, which belies the acting here. There are some really solid performances going on here, particularly VanBebber himself and Marc Pitman, and some excellent gore and nudity. Each murder turns up the tension like a hot needle turning in side.
By the time it comes to the high profile Tate murders, the exploitive element is at a fever pitch. Going back to present day with this new gang of Goth thrill killers and the murder of the news reporter, we feel unjustly pulled from the spell of the 60's world of the "Family". This sort of wrap around was constructed to tie in the out of date Manson events to the current time. These scenes were even shot years after the straight story of the murders, and it shows. It really doesn't work to tie the times together. It is the flashbacks and the interview scenes that
unfold the story that is extremely convincing. The full frame presentation is very respectful to VanBebber's very authentic 16mm newsreel style feel and cinematographer Mike King's psychedelic kaleidoscope of colors. The sound could use work but, considering the budget
the problem most likely began in production. The bonus disc includes the almost feature length documentary The VanBebber Family which illustrates the films unorthodox conception. I found it fascinating being a filmmaker and a VanBebber fan though, if you are neither of these it may be a waste of your time. The same goes for "In the Belly of the Beast" which documents the
films' premiere at the Fantasia festival in Montreal. This runs a bit too long and loses it's point many times over. So when next renting and uh oh. all the copies of "The Wedding Date" are all
out, do yourself a favor and check out "The Manson Family", but make sure grandma is out of the room when watching.