Product Description

If you think you know the story of the Manson Family, you are dead wrong. Director Jim VanBebber (Deadbeat at Dawn) delivers an uncompromising snapshot of this cult of personality, hell- bent on executing the brutal vision of its leader, Charles Manson. On a ranch outside of LA the dream of the "Love Generation" is perverting into something evil. What was once an oasis of free love and acid trips has become ground zero for a madman’s paranoid visions. An average group of kids, the "Family", become engulfed in a delusional world where torment and slaughter is considered the path to righteousness. The Manson Family is a dizzying, rapid-fire vision of the sex and violence that unifies the misguided group, and at the direction of their leader, ends in a brutal spree leaving seven people dead in a 48 hours. You’ve seen the story through the eyes of the law. Now witness it through the eyes of THE MANSON FAMILY.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21881 in DVD
• Brand: MPI HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2005-04-26
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 95 minutes

Features

• If you think you know the story of the Manson Family, you are dead wrong. Director Jim VanBebber (Deadbeat at Dawn) delivers an uncompromising snapshot of this cult of personality, hell- bent on executing the brutal vision of its leader, Charles Manson. On a ranch outside of L.A., the dream of the Love Generation is perverting into something evil. Has what was once an oasis of free love and acid t

Customer Reviews

Charlie Don't Surf
While it took forever for this film to be finished, the question is if it was worth the wait. My answer is that it was. "The Manson Family" is a very interesting view of the events that preceded the infamous killings and how they culminated in the very murders themselves. Using a multiple time phase structure, the film moves back and forth between the past and present of the main characters involved in the murders. This results in a story that tries to show the killers as being "removed" from the actual crime, as if they were not really there and they comment on it in the third person. Essentially exactly what they do when going up for parole hearings. The film is very rough, scenes are filled with scratches and other defects that bring a documentary feel to the proceedings, as if the Manson Family themselves were behind the camera. The culmination of the film with the multiple murders presents them in a highly graphic and factual way which is to the benefit of the presentation. While all the talk and posturing was peace and love, to see the horrendous murders truly puts things in perspective. This is a great movie for people into true crime stories and for those looking for a realistic portrayal of the Manson story. The DVD also contains an excellent documentary concerning no budget, renegade filmmaking. This documentary interviews many directors of these types of film and is very insightful into the passions of these people. Other extras include a revealing interview with Manson himself which, if nothing else, indicates why he will die in prison. I would recommend this film to people who are fans of independent filmmakers and true crime stories.

"The Real Story" whatever.
I had heard about this and other movies about Manson and wanted to check them out for more information about the case. This movie, claims to be, the real story told from the family point of view. This is a joke. The interviews are staged to look real, the murder scene with Folger was a joke. If you slit someones throat they are not going to colapse and then get back up and walk out to the front yard before they die after loosing what seemed to be a couple gallons of blood. The stabbing of most of the bodies is just stupid considering that Jay was shot once and stabbed 7 times but in this movie I swear that Tex stabbed him 50 times, Parent was only shot not cut according to published autopsy reports and to stab a person in the same place so many times like Hinman when the autopsy report clearly does not depict that is crazy. To top it off to put in your updates that the US Supreme Court abolished the death penalty when it was the California SC under Rose Byrd in 1972 just goes to prove how stupid this director/producer is. If the movie was claiming to be just for entertainment fine. But when you depict it as accurate and from the view of the family you look like a damn idiot. Do your homework if your going to make claims.

Don't waste your time
If I could rate this movie minus 10 I would. There is nothing new here and as a matter of fact, the dialog is taken mostly from other movies (Hendrickson's "Manson")and repeated here in clips. "Manson", by the way, is a much better film if you want to learn about the Family from the actual participants. Charles Manson Superstar is another good one if you are after a learning experience. Both films above are disturbing and creepy in the sense that it is real.If you are just interested in sex, violence and blood then you will probably like Van Bebber's film because that's what it consists of. Nothing more, nothing less......