The Manson Family (2003)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Jim Van Bebber

Writer:

Jim Van Bebber (writer)

Release Date:

22 October 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You've seen the story through the eyes of the law... Now see it through the eyes of The Manson Family

Plot Keywords:

Manson | Charles Manson | Murder | Independent Film | Based On True Story

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Marcelo Games	...	Charlie Manson
Marc Pitman	...	Tex Watson
Leslie Orr	...	Patty Krenwinkel
Maureen Allisse	...	Sadie Atkins
Amy Yates	...	Leslie van Houten
Jim Van Bebber	...	Bobby
Tom Burns	...	Clem Watkins
Michelle Briggs	...	Linda Kasabian
Sherri Rickman	...	Snake
Nate Pennington	...	Shorty
M.M. Jones	...	Ronald
Carl Day	...	Jack Wilson
Jim Sayer	...	Bob
Mark Gillespie	...	Terry
Paul Harper	...	Jerry
Norris Hellwig	...	Old George
Joel Pohlman	...	Randy
Valerie Hatt	...	Simi Sherri
Melissa Schlosser	...	Gypsy
Marita Clarke	...	Squeaky
Kellye Morris	...	Sandy
Sara Quoia	...	Nancy
Kim Hall	...	Kitty
Mel Clark	...	Cappy
Don Keaton	...	Lotsapoppa
Kevan Curren	...	Gary
James McCullars	...	Clarence
Alan Joyce	...	Biker / Court House Extras
Jimmy Hearse	...	Dennis
Freddist	...	Mars
Josh Hoke	...	Stevie
Andrea Layne	...	Lucy
Darren Brown	...	Darren (as Darrin Brown)
Michael Krieger	...	El Padrino
Jennifer Rickets	...	Corpse
John Bognar	...	Satan
Dill Bowling	...	Old Charlie
Tom Ramey	...	Todd
Tony Wilson	...	Stan
John Lockwood	...	Steven Parent
Charlie Goetz	...	Voytech Frykowski
Samuel Turcotte	...	Jay Sebring
Daun Edmunds	...	Abigail Folger (as D'aun Edmunds)
Tina Martin	...	Sharon Tate
Geoff Burkman	...	Leno La Bianca
Sharise Parviz	...	Rosemary La Bianca
Meirika Girten	...	Barbra
Alydra Kelly	...	Lil' Patty
Samantha	...	Katie
Ernie Nisley	...	Mojo
Cecilia Horstman	...	Rosina
Denise West	...	Shorty's Wife
Kim Pennington	...	Sleeping Woman
Gary Thompson	...	BBC Host Ian
Dan Crawford	...	Reporter
Mariposa	...	Rose
Steve Riley	...	Dennis
Ann Howard	...	Catherine
Megan Mateer	...	Country Sue
Kym Olsen	...	Stephanie
Cathy Carver	...	Ouisch
Kris Hall	...	Brenda
Annette Reckart	...	Mary
John Gnann	...	Sunshine
Jennifer Orr	...	Kaye
Mary Blacklock	...	Susan
Mike Bazzini	...	Juan
Mike Zengel	...	Biker
H.M. Kelly	...	Bloody Mama
Stacy Valencia	...	Jennifer
Rob Zinser	...	Danny
Tim Hedges	...	Kenneth
Tony Brown	...	Brooks
Lisa Feathers	...	Bo
Andrew Copp	...	Paul (as Andy Copp)
Jimmy Yoe	...	Zezozoze
Elliot Quinn	...	Pooh Bear
Courtney Macy	...	Tanya
Jim Lockard	...	Joe
Brian McKay	...	Al
Scott Thatcher	...	Biker
Henry Pant	...	Police Officer
Candy Johnson	...	Police Officer
Tim Montgomery	...	Police Officer
Linda Struve	...	Police Officer
Phil Anselmo	...	Satan (voice)
Rob Jones	...	Court House Extras
Dan Halverson	...	Court House Extras
Anita Hackley	...	Court House Extras
Ryann Hess	...	Court House Extras
Bruce Vandermolen	...	Court House Extras
Kay Magnuson	...	Court House Extras
Jody Cukovecki	...	Court House Extras
Vicki Cukovecki	...	Court House Extras
Tori Cukovecki	...	Court House Extras
Toria Artis Wyor	...	Court House Extras
Robin Scott Kirksey	...	Court House Extras
Kris Evans Warner	...	Court House Extras
Thanos Fatouros	...	Court House Extras
George Hall Jr.	...	Court House Extras
Paula Trey	...	Court House Extras
Kathryn L. Mulhern	...	Court House Extras
Raymond Mulhern	...	Court House Extras
K. Renné Momor	...	Court House Extras
Kurt Poeppelmeir	...	Court House Extras
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sage Stallone	...	Jay Sebring
Jim Jones	...	Himself (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Jim Van Bebber

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jim Van Bebber		writer

Produced by
Michael Capone	....	associate producer
Carl Daft	....	producer
David Gregory	....	producer
Mike King	....	producer
Samuel Turcotte	....	associate producer
Jim Van Bebber	....	producer

Original Music by
Phil Anselmo		(as Philip Anselmo)
Ross Karpelman

Cinematography by
Mike King		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Michael Capone
Jim Van Bebber

Costume Design by
Sherri Rickman

Makeup Department
Andrew Copp	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
John Mays	....	production manager

Sound Department
Nick Beljic	....	foley recordist
Nick Beljic	....	sound mixer
John Cregan	....	sound editor
William Farmer	....	adr artist
Jeff Gersh	....	adr recordist
Kelli Hughes	....	adr artist
Damon Packard	....	adr artist
Sherri Rickman	....	adr artist
Gar Robertson	....	adr recordist
Bryan Rosenthal	....	adr artist
Bryan Rosenthal	....	foley artist
James Young	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
William Farmer	....	special effects
Jim Van Bebber	....	special effects

Stunts
Mark De Alessandro	....	stunts

Music Department
Tim Arnold	....	composer: additional music
Kevin Engle	....	composer: additional music
Dale Hughes	....	composer: additional music
Don Neibert	....	composer: additional music
Ernie Nisley	....	composer: additional music
Evangeline Noel	....	composer: additional music
Mark Raskin	....	composer: additional music
Kenny Richardson	....	composer: additional music
Jimmy Rodgers	....	composer: additional music
Marty Romie	....	composer: additional music
Sage Stallone	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Mary A. Arnold	....	location manager
Shaun Baker	....	production crew
Jeff Barklage	....	production crew
Steve Bognar	....	production crew
John Bradley	....	production crew
Pat Buckley	....	location manager
Tom Burns	....	production crew
Rob Creager	....	production crew
Greg Doddson	....	production crew
Marco Fargnoli	....	production crew
Thanos Fatouros	....	production crew
Candy Johnson	....	location manager
Matt Kennedy	....	adr artist
Richard King	....	production crew
Tom Mahe	....	production crew
Nate Pennington	....	production crew
Joel Pohlman	....	production crew
Mark Shuster	....	production crew
Herb Tarleck	....	production crew
Rob Wagner	....	production crew
Josh Winteringham	....	production crew
Bill Yoe	....	production crew

Thanks
David Pollison	....	special thanks
Sage Stallone	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Mercury Films

Distributors

• Dinsdale Releasing (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dark Sky Films (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Magna Pacific (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2008) (Italy) (all media) (as Enjoy Movies)
• Sharada Distribuzione (2006) (Italy) (video)
• Transformer (2004) (Japan) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Screen Time Images  DVD menus and authoring

Also Known As:

Charlie's Family (USA) (working title)
Cult Killers (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong grisly violence, strong sexual content/nudity, language and drug use.

Runtime:

95 min | USA:84 min (R-rated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | Australia:R | Norway:18 (DVD uncut version) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Dayton, Ohio, USA

Company:

Mercury Films

Trivia:

To make the actors feel more comfortable during the sex scenes, Jim Van Bebber would often direct naked.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The VanBebber Family (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Gristledogcorr

Mad Manson, mad to miss it

Directed by Jim van Bebber, also responsible for related items such as the disturbing Necrophagia: Through the Eyes of the Dead (2002) a collection of gruesome music videos, as well as the violent cult classic Deadbeat at Dawn (1988). The Manson family is similarly disturbing, more so in fact as it is based on true events. The film is very well edited construction of supposed interviews with Family members, news footage and dramatic reconstruction, much of which is more convincing than one might expect through its careful mimicking of 70's shooting colours and style - process enhanced by the 15 years it took in production. None of the principals are well known, which adds to the documentary feel. Oddly enough Marcelo Games (who also appeared in Deadbeat), playing Manson himself, has little charisma, although he manages a fair enough resemblance to Charlie. This is no real disadvantage however as, for the most part the film concentrates on the Family members, rather than their bloody messiah, showing their increasing acquiescence to both cult and violence. The notorious Tate killings are convincingly and chillingly re staged, looking reasonably accurate in their portrayal of a frenzied event which effectively ended the peace & love generation's 60's dream.

Van Bebber's film is notable in the way in which it uses jump cuts, short scenes, mixed shooting media and the like to recreate the stoned, psychotic experience of events, very impressive in a low budget film of this type. Less effective is the modern day framing device, in which TV men plan a documentary around the 25th anniversary of the horrific events (perhaps providing the 'source' of the main film, although this is never made entirely clear), face a band of modern day druggie anarchists, as well as final killing due this strand which, in the light of a just seen massacre, is something of an anti climax. Some of the several sex scenes at the Family's farm seem gratuitous, which suggest the exploitation background of the makers but there is no reason not to take this as, overall, a serious work. Strong stuff, uncut in the UK by the BBFC too, as taken from the unrated US edition and available in a well filled 2 disc edition at a very reasonable price.