Manson (2009)*** 1/2 (out of 4)This made-for-TV documentary takes a look at the brutal and ghastly murders committed by Charles Manson and his "family." Linda Kasabian was on hand for the Tate/LaBianca murders and she's interviewed here as she talks about her life in the family and what happened on those two nights.There have been countless documentaries on Charles Manson so it's hard to find one that offers something new or different. This one here benefits from getting to hear from not only Kasabian but also Vincent Bugliosi, Catherine Share and Debra Tate who discusses what Roman Polanski was like when he got the news. Another benefit is that the re-enactments are quite effective here and we get some nice performances from the actors including Adam Kenneth Wilson who plays Manson.There's plenty of discussion about the main events of this story including Manson's race war plans and of course the two nights of terror. Sensitive viewers should be warned that crime scene photos are shown and it's just amazing how crazed these people were when they were doing these crimes. The interviews themselves are quite good and contain plenty of details. With that said, I honestly can't see Kasabian as any sort of hero even though she did testify against the family.

Linda Kasabian Has Come Out Of Hiding To Speak For The First Time In 40 Years About The Manson Murders.Okay That Is The Whole Plot Of This Documentary, I Felt Like They Used Up The Actors That Play Their Parts To What Should've Been More Interviews Like About The Tate Murders, I Know Its A Long Stretch But Roman Polanski Should've Said Something, Besides Deborah Tate And Linda Kasabian And Some Historian No One Knows.The Acted Parts Were So Badly Acted That It Looked Like Manson's Motive For Murders Was That He Didn't Get A Record Deal, This However Is A Load Of Crap, Helter Skelter Is His Motive (The War To End All Wars And He Would Reign As King Of The World).Overall I Found This Documentary To Be Interesting From The Point Of View From People Who Were There But The Problem Is That It Is All How They Interpret Things, For Example I Interpret Helter Skelter As "Great Song, Invention Of Heavy Metal", Manson Interpreted This As "The War To End All Wars"...See How Interpretation Can Vary, Sure Manson Was This Crazed F#ucking Maniac But It Proves My Point. Avoid At All Costs.

This seriously deranged faux doco about the hideous Manson family killers is peppered with actual photos of the real victims in their heartbreaking stabbed gore. This use of real photos shocked me more than anything and I personally found the genuine police report black and white pic of 8 months pregnant Sharon Tate lying on the floor, all smashed to death particularly distressing. The reenactments are also very gruesome, with repeated scenes of actors stabbing and bashing each other. One scene even has a 3 year old child in an unedited shot where 'Manson' beats and kicks a woman. How this assault looked to the child is horrifying as a 3 year old cannot discern playacting of this brutal magnitude. This doco seems to have a keen eye to explicitly display the atrocity reenactments for maximum gore exposure. Debra Tate, Sharon's sister actually appears and I gasp to think how she dealt with this as a finished product. For a TV movie is contains R Rated violence and would have been a tough sit for anyone involved. The details described in the stabbings are equally pointless as we already know these poor people died in a horrific way but to hear what they said and blood and bone details is simply revolting cruelty to the audience. And unbelievable disrespectful to the real families of the original crime. This is a vulgar exploitive doco with a desire to expose the worst violence imaginable, explicitly re inact it, and show the real crime scene photos....and rub it in your face. Terrible.

This was a good, not great, documentary. The part that was very well done was the realistic reenactment of watching the girls and Tex going into the house and doing the senseless deed. In previous movies and documentaries the reenactments were not at all realistic. In this one, you can actually believe that this is the way the crimes were committed. And the events are not depicted in a gruesome manner, while at the same time there was no question the murders were horrible. The part that was not well done was some of the scenes at the murder site suggest that you could just drive right by the house and you were right there. That was not the case. The house was behind a gated driveway and down the driveway. The LoBianco house was much more accurately depicted. I also think they made an error on the location of the Spahn Movie Ranch. I believe the graphic read that it was in Benedict Canyon. That is not correct. Spahn Movie Ranch was out in the Chatsworth area in the Simi Valley, although they were correct in saying it was about 25 miles from Los Angeles. Minor errors like this cause the documentary to lose credibility. Overall, I thought the documentary was well done. The acting in the reenactments was very believable. Getting the real Linda Kasabian to speak about the crimes was a real fine catch because, to the best of my knowledge, she's been silent on the crimes since she provided the testimony that put away Manson, Tex Watson and the girls. Was her version of things a bit slanted? Probably. But no one has ever said she actually participated in the killings-- not even the people she caused to spend the rest of their lives in prison, and not any member of the Manson family, and all of these people had reason to attack Kasabian's credibility. That doesn't make Kasabian a saint and she should have spent considerable time in prison (she didn't report the crimes, she simply ran away after the Lo Bianco murders)but without her testimony it is very likely Manson and all the others would have walked away without being convicted. This was a good documentary that, with a few improvements, could have been a great documentary. A documentary that includes Bugliosi, Tate's sister and Linda Kasabian is off to a great start and those interviews alone make this an important documentary.