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release of "The Manson Family" marks for cult underground director Jim
Van Bebber (who made a name for himself with the brutal "Deadbeat at
Dawn") the end of a struggle which, incredibly, began back in 1988 when
financing ran out during the film's principal photography. After more than a
decade of false starts and botched deals, not to mention the continuity
nightmare of watching his lead actors age, it is remarkable, and indeed a
tribute to Van Bebber's inhuman persistence, that the film has actually been
finished at all. Made for next to nothing, and in an uncompromising visual and
visceral style, "The Manson Family" is a true work of passion and
self-belief, and as such represents filmmaking at its most pure, unfettered by
financial or commercial considerations.
Of course, there is very little about the film
itself which could actually be described as 'pure', being an extreme
slice of transgressive cinema which explores the infamous crimes of
Charles Manson and his followers. Unlike many of the exploitation
howlers made in the 1970s which sought mainly to exploit the shocking
details of the case, cashing in on a then-current issue for trashy
entertainment, Van Bebber's film comes along decades after the fact,
though at a time when Manson's name still holds sway over many
disenfranchised young people. By casting a non-judgmental eye over the
events leading up to the bloody killings, and by faithfully recreating
the drug-addled, orgiastic life of the titular 'family' through
interviews, flashbacks and documentary-style techniques, the result is a
raw, disturbing and at times nauseating film which harks back to the
classic days of grind house cinema, and which underlines how far from
true horror so many of today's genre efforts really are.
The film's narrative has two strands, between which
it switches back and forth. The first takes place in the present day, as
a group of nihilistic punks plan the murder of a local television crime
show host who is making a documentary about Manson. The bulk of the
film, thankfully, is taken up with the actual story of Manson and his
followers, showing the most important and indeed infamous aspects of
their evolution from flower-power children of free love and LSD to
paranoid psychopaths, through to their brief but bloody rampage as
would-be societal terrorists.
Van Bebber structures the film in an ambitious and
complex fashion, mixing in a variety of interviews and recreations that
are linked thematically rather than chronologically. A great deal of the
proceedings is filmed in faux documentary style, at times complete with
mock-grain added onto the film stock, which gives it an air of gritty
authenticity. This is accentuated by the viewer's knowledge that what
they are seeing, for the most part at least, actually happened, and
although Van Bebber has quite obviously made his own interpretations of
some events and the motivations behind them, they never fail to ring
true. As such, the film works as a fascinating portrait of real life
crime and as a snapshot of a unique moment in time, rather than a
traditional narrative with sympathetic characters.
There is a tense, crazed atmosphere throughout
"The Manson Family", and Van Bebber never allows the viewer to
feel comfortable or in control. As the characters degenerate, he
utilises a number of techniques to represent the characters' descent
into madness and murder, with some dizzying editing and hallucinogenic
use of light filters and camera speeds. There are some truly nightmarish
and disorientating scenes where the director assaults the senses,
skilfully forcing the viewer to actually share in the characters'
drug-fuelled horror. Whether or not the viewer would wish to have such
an experience is of course questionable. However, Van Bebber's skill
during such scenes is undeniable and far more effective than the usual
clichés of genre cinema, which mistakes throwing in loud noises and
fast editing in place of an actual feeling of dread.
"The
Manson Family" is an incredibly graphic and visceral film, with
some extremely bloody carnage that is not for the faint of heart.
Although the budget was obviously close to non-existent, Van Bebber
still manages to throw in a great deal of realistic gore, shying away
from none of the gruesome details of the crimes. There is an incredible
amount of sex and nudity, with the majority of the cast spending the
film naked. However, none of this comes across as gratuitous, or indeed
particularly erotic, being instead a realistic depiction of the
cultists' way of life.
The film does have its faults, mainly in the fact that
the scenes set in the present day are nowhere near as interesting as
those which focus on Manson, and at times feel tacked on and entirely
superfluous. Similarly, some viewers may feel let down by the fact that
Van Bebber never really tries to get inside the minds of the characters,
and that by simply reporting their actions, he misses the opportunity
for what could have been an intense psychological study of madness.
However, whilst this may be true, the film's main purpose is not to
explain or justify, but to recreate the crimes themselves, and to
actually transport the viewer into their midst. As such, "The
Manson Family" is a brave, remarkable piece of brutal,
mind-altering horror, in which director Van Bebber succeeds in
transcending the limitations not only of his low budget, but also of the
genre itself.
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