Sweet Savior

I love most Troma movies and most Charles Manson based movies, so this was a real treat for me. Most of the movie is sort of a softcore porn, but twist to a massacre. Troy Donahue made a pretty good Charles Manson based character. Lyoyd Kauffman even makes a brief appearence as squeegee, but is very brief and he looks much different. I recommend this movie for sick people like me.

Sweet Savior was made around the time of the Charles Manson murders and the main charcter (played by a shaggy haired Troy Donahue) is basically, a Charles Manson-like guru who brings his flock to the home of a wealthy couple where a party is going on. The film has a lot of scenes that are pretty sick. The X rating is not unwarranted. Still, one can't help but notice an important sub-theme: the magnetic allure and influence a charismatic figure may have on a simple minded person especially when that charismatic figure supplies drugs to the person. The film also shows the potentially fatal dangers of blindly following a leader, thus it has some significance. However, it's unlikely that the film makers had any social conscience in mind when they made this due to the film's exploitational nature and the mean spirit which pervades throughout.

A sleaze classic that was still haunting the VHS shops around Times Square when I visited NYC in the late 1990s, but has never made the jump to DVD or Blu-Ray. Former teen idol Troy Donahue does a remarkably against type turn as Moon, a bearded cult leader who leads his freaky followers to a sex and drugs party hosted by a heavily pregnant redhead actress whose famous film director husband is away abroad (subtle it ain't). Naturally things quickly get out of hand, with the actress and her decadent bourgeoisie friends finding themselves at the mercy of their hippie guests, who have bloodlust on their minds. It's a take on the Manson story, filmed with a Hollywood Babylon level of tabloid luridness, complete with cross dressing, lots of undressing, lesbianism, often side splitingly funny dialogue ("I was young, just a slip of a girl, and I loved cock, I loved it so much, I wanted one of my own") and a catchy, top drawer soundtrack by brill building legend Jeff Barry. Any resemblance to real-life figures is purely intensional. "I have a feeling it's going to be bigger than Love Story" -Troy Donahue.

I won't front, I'm interested in Manson, but I also dig 60's & 70's exploitation movies. If yr like myself, then you might enjoy this.

It's not a direct reference to the Manson story but the whole religious drug/sex cult/family deal is in effect. Lotsa cheesy hippy babble, drug taking and many naked breasts follow. Troy Donahue makes a good Manson-esque character and the music is good. (By Jeff Barry no less!) Definitely worth checking out!

As you may have read, it is indeed a very cheesy drama based on the Manson Killings. Actually, it's a "statement" film that doesn't "cop out". The film introduces our pseudo-Manson character,"Moon",who arranges sex parties for rich people and in his spare time introduces his friends to the last chapter of the bible while tripping. In the meantime the music is quite pleasing, and the whole film rolls by like an old record. If you enjoy Manson films, I think you'll be let down. The story is non-existent, but some swingers getting ready for an orgy nonchalantly as if going to a luncheon might be worth examining again. The characters are reduced to idiot strippers and goons. I loved that wild background score, so I can't say I didn't think it was a good movie, despite the desperate attempt to imitate what happened to Sharon Tate and others in August of '69.