Skip to main contentFor years, talk of Jim Van Bebber's film The Manson Family has been an urban legend among underground fanatics and gore hounds who longed to view what the filmmaker promised would be the ultimate depiction of the Manson Family murders.
Apart from those who saw the film during the 1990s when it was screened--under the title of Charlie's Family-- as a work-in-progress on the film festivals circuit, The Manson Family seemed destined to languish, unfinished and unseen. But now, after years of setbacks, ranging from lack of money to actors growing older, Van Bebber has finally completed his epic.
By now, most Americans are familiar with the shocking story of the Manson Family murders. Countless documentaries, B-movie exploitation ripoffs and two television movies, both called Helter Skelter, have left a now-familiar image of cult leader Charles Manson carved into the collective forehead of our country's culture. To viewers raised in the shadow of the Columbine and Nicole Simpson murders, the crimes committed by the Manson "family" cult back in 1969 might seem almost tame. But at the time, the Tate/LaBianca murders were considered among the most brutal of the 20th century, and Van Bebber's long-awaited film serves as a fresh reminder of the depravity of the crimes.
Unfolding in a nonlinear narrative style, The Manson Family is told largely through the guise of a fictional documentary being produced about Charlie and his kill-crazy followers. Television producer Jack Wilson (Carl Day) sifts through hours of mock interview footage with members of the Manson Family, while reenacted flashbacks depict the activities of Charlie (Marcelo Games) and his followers. Of course, the film unspools the gruesome murders of five victims at the heart of the Manson massacre, including that of actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant young wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski, but also depicts lesser-known acts of violence, like the shooting of alleged drug dealer Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe.
An unrepentant orgy of sex, violence and gore, Van Bebber's film isn't for the faint of heart, as it makes no attempt to sugarcoat its subject matter. Instead, it recalls the drive-in and grindhouse exploitation films of the 1960s and '70s, such as the work of filmmakers Herschell Gordon Lewis (2,000 Maniacs, Blood Feast) and Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust). Yet The Manson Family emerges as more than just another schlock thriller, as it uses extreme depictions of violence and sex not as gimmicks, but as way to show the horror of the real-life crime.
Another factor that helps Van Bebber's film rise above the trappings of exploitation is that viewers can't forget it has been so long in the making. After all, the film records a filmmaker's successful wrestling match with the passing of time, as the physical appearance of the cast changed and key players came and went.
What the finished product reveals is the storytelling assurance the filmmaker gained in the years he invested in finding the right way to tell this story. Most moviemakers would have given up. "Once you get so far into a film, and I can see what I've got and where's it going, the logical thing to do is keep moving," Van Bebber told an interviewer in an article published in Film Threat magazine back in 1994. "Charlie's Family is a really hot movie, and if it takes another five years, I'll get through it in the end."
More than a decade has passed since Van Bebber vowed to finish his film. Since that time he's gone on to direct music videos for bands like Skinny Puppy. The screenplay was published by Creation Books, adding to the legend of the film. But now, true to his word, Van Bebber finally offers his nightmarish glimpse into a world of depravity. The Manson Family is not a story for everyone. But for those who enjoy artistic merit mixed with grindhouse sleaze, this movie delivers the goods--as promised.
Adults OnlyClinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 238-8899. 7 and 9 pm Friday-Thursday, Nov. 12-18. Additional shows 4 pm Saturday and Sunday. $4-$6.
WWeek 2015