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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (31) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (10) | DVD (7)
A nauseating mélange.
Its own mythology aside, this flamboyant, graphic and disturbing quasi-docu reenactment of a notorious chapter in U.S. counterculture life is a fascinating if peculiar accomplishment.
Van Bebber has delivered a stylistically vigorous and often insightful piece of work.
There's no real journalism here, just the sort of appalling revisionism that can turn a bloodbath into a beach party.
The less-than-persuasive result is like mediocre leftover psychedelic '60s underground cinema.
It seems little more than the heir to Survive!, The Zodiac Killer and other unsavory 1970s horror cheapies that tried to turn a quick buck on real-life tragedy.
a true feast of flesh made even worse on an unrated DVD
You feel sick and indicted by it--and that's exactly how you ought to feel.
...grotesquely violent, but shouldn't a film about the Manson atrocities disgust us?
Titillation and drive-in exploitation tactics are readily employed to keep the viewer watching, with a filmmaking approach coasting along in a psychedelic documentary mode.
... an acid movie flashback a la Oliver Stone.
Helter Skelter is a song by the Beatles, a slogan adopted by the Charles Manson 'family' and a description of how disorganized The Manson Family is.
An effective docudrama about the cult of Manson which features mock interviews with the members of the cult along with flashbacks of their dirty deeds. Lots of sex, nudity, drug taking and graphic bloody stabbings. But it's all been shot in an hallucinogenic way with choppy editing, which I got and understood, but it didn't make for a comfortable viewing experience... a bit too wierd. It's not completely accurate to the original events either. Still, an interesting little fim.
Super Reviewer
Damn this movie was brutal! From the cover of the DVD I thought this movie was going to be more of a documentary. However it really wasnt,there were some interviews followed by some reinactments. The picture quilty of this movie was really,really bad. There was grain everywhere. This movie was creppy though. The Manson family is the story of Charles Manson's followers. How they were brainwashed to thinking that he was a God or something. Thier were many graphic sex scenes,much like a soft core porno. Then there were some of the most brutal deaths scenes I have ever seen! Which is saying alot bevilve me! This movie is defentiley not for the faint of heart. This movie might scare the shit out of you!
Interesting film that is most notable for being the infamous Van Beeber film. Years in the making, mostly in post, there were many articles and even a book put out before this film ever saw the light of day. I remember thinking I'd never get to see this. With that kind of anticipation, the film was sure to be a let down. Still, it's a great cross between an art film, bio pic and extreme horror with Van Beeber's expected anarchic style. Good stuff that really deserves a second viewing from me.
With scenes of extreme violence and sexually explicity, this film based on the true story of Charles Manson and his followers and the murders they comitted is shot partly as a pseudo documentary style film, whilst flashing back to the actual events. Having not known too many of the details before viewing this film, it's difficult to know how much of the film is accurate, however it does prove that the power of suggestion through brainwashing is a dangerous and powerful thing. VERDICT: As long as you are not offended by the sexual nature of this film and have the stomach to watch the details, it's defintely an interesting watch.
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