DVD Review: MANSON FAMILY MOVIES (1984)

MANSON FAMILY MOVIES was written and directed by John Aes-Nihil and is distributed by Cult Epics. Here is the basic plot from the film's imdb.com page:

In response to the legend that the "Manson Family" may have filmed themselves in some of theirs exploits, this film is a re-creation as to what a film of their may have been like. The film, shot in a piecemeal fashion, is an intentionally amateurish faux "home movie" of the events leading up to, and including, the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders

If you didn't know better, you could almost believe that these are the actual home movies of the Manson family that were somehow found and released to DVD. These are not, of course, the real films, but I feel these are about as close as anyone could ever come to re-creating them. The films are very grainy and amateurish, and look remarkably identical to the real Manson films that I have seen clips of.

I will not go into the history of the Manson family, as I assume anyone interested in Horror films probably knows all about it. Manson and his family pulled off many robberies and murders, of which some of them they recorded on film. This film shows you exactly what those films probably looked like.

There is no dialog in this film at all. All the films are silent, so the filmmaker chose to put music to the films. But not just any music. You will hear actual recordings of the Manson Family singing in their creepy, hypnotic harmonies. Some of the Family's music on this DVD has never been released, so that is a treat in itself. If you have never heard any of the Manson Family's music, you really should. It has it's own unique sound and gives you a creepy feeling listening to it....knowing the evil that these people handed out during their crime spree.

One other thing worth mentioning about this DVD is the special features, which include a 30 minute interview with Charles Manson himself, and a batch of actual LAPD Crime Scene photos. These both are very interesting and worth the price of the DVD in my opinion on their own.

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