The Manson Family Massacre

For a movie with Massacre in the title you expect a lot of violence going in and this delivers on that with a plethora of brutal stabbings. Some are very disturbing because they just go on and on and knowing it really happened to real people makes for grim viewing. For an obviously low budget movie there are pretty solid performances and everyone looks the part but the story does change the known version of the real case and includes a lot of conspiracy theories as part of the plot here. The story is told in two different time periods and there is a lot of new age stuff in both which borders on pretentious at times. But after seeing countless Manson movies playing out the exact same way I welcomed a different take on this subject.

I didn't really follow the main plot points very well. I fell asleep watching and didn't really care to watch it again the next day. Nothing really happens in the film. It jumps about from past to present and back again. It doesn't really tell the story of anything.

The story seemed so far fetched. The actor playing Manson had the charisma down but lacked the believable villian qualities. It felt more like a rush to be released to the viewing public.

This latest retread of the manson murders is more interested in following a musician living in the cielo drive house years after the tate murders with just a few long flashbacks to the familiar events of 1969. the film moves at a dreamy pace for the most part and seems to trying to ape polanski films like repulsion and the tenant but then come outbursts of brutal violence which skirt the borders of good taste. the story is like two films thrown together one about a musician losing her mind and the other a period biopic so the tone is all over the map sometimes. but some good acting and convincing violence prevent this latest manson offering from slipping into total mediocrity.

This was not ready to be released. Feels like watching a school project.