THE MANSON FAMILY

Present. In a television network, a videotape containing interviews with former members of the Manson Family arrives. In the mid-1960s, while the hippie generation was forging itself everywhere, Charles Manson, a charismatic flower child, spokesperson for sadistic and blasphemous ideals, founded a sort of community that preached free sex, the use of all kinds of drugs, and extreme violence. The young members of the "Family," manipulated by Manson, engaged in increasingly criminal acts: from theft to drug trafficking, culminating in several murders in the villas of wealthy bourgeois families. The host of the television program that should address the subject is indecisive about whether or not to air the footage; meanwhile, a group of young people are preparing to emulate the exploits of the Manson Family. "The Manson Family" is a fake documentary that narrates in a crude and amoral manner the dark side of hippie culture, showing us in the most explicit way possible the atrocities to which the followers of the guru Charles Manson were dedicated. "The Manson Family" alternates fake interviews with the Family members (obviously played by the same actors) with filmed sequences that narrate the genesis of the Family and the initiation of new members, ending with their criminal degeneration. The whole is framed within a dual context set in the present, in which a group of skinheads, followers of the degenerate culture founded by Manson, and a television show host doubtful about whether or not to air the interviews about the Manson Family that were delivered to him; a device that closely resembles Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust." "The Manson Family" is directed with a cold and realistic style by director James Van Bebber, who also handled the screenplay and played a small role, leaving the main parts to young and convincing actors chosen from among his friends. Despite the extremely limited budget and the total economy with which the subject was approached, choosing the path of the docu-drama, the film nevertheless succeeds in its intent, making use of discreet special effects. It should be noted, however, that "The Manson Family" is not a film for everyone, and I am not referring only to the documentary technique with which it was made, which could make many people cringe, but especially to the fact that we are facing a seriously disturbing product, both in content and in its depiction in images. Indeed, we go through orgies and satanic rituals to a final climax that shows in all its ferocity and cruelty the scenes of the murders in the villas (one of which also victimized Sharon Tate, the then companion of director Roman Polanski), leaving nothing to the imagination; however, we are not in the territories of splatter, but rather in extremely realistic and disturbing violence. A film, therefore, that can be considered successful in its main intentions and that, if distributed with greater attention, would surely have made people talk. The crudeness of the images and the total amorality of the message contained therein can make this film disturb the most sensitive viewers and not appeal to those who do not like the documentary style; but it remains a film that leaves absolutely no one indifferent... this is for sure! The rating has been rounded up.