Charles Manson Superstar

I watched this movie because I was expecting to get an inside look into the real Charles Manson. I wanted to see if I could figure out why he did the things that he did and why in the world anyone would follow him.

This documentary begins with a very creepy voiced narrator telling you that basically this is Charlie's turn to explain things. All the songs in the film are very satanic. The whole thing has a very dark feel about it.

Charlie spends a lot of time preaching or teaching as he would call it. He compares himself with Richard Nixon and discusses how "everyone has Lucifer inside of them". The man really seems a mix of possessed and crazy to me. I did not really gain any understanding of why he did things that he did. I just got further proof that this person is exceptionally disturbed, not gifted as he thinks and as the film tries to persuade you.

The film takes you to the famous Spaun ranch and shows pictures of then and now. Charlie tells stories of the ranch and explains how his "world" is still there. He goes on and on about how he does not live in our world, he is above and beyond us. Our world and the United States is the devil, an evil machine.

I have watched a lot of documentaries about killers and criminals, trying to figure out why someone would do the things that they do, how they must reason it in their mind. This is unlike anything I have ever seen. At times, it is very boring, at times unbelievable. I got a very creepy feeling while watching it and confess, I did not finish the whole film. I lost interest in listening to Charlie rant and rave, he is clearly insane.

All in all, you get a feeling of perhaps what his followers heard and saw from him. I bet that his story has not changed much. It didn't make sense then, and it does make sense now.

There are many films explicitly about Manson, and even more loosely inspired by him and the deeds attributed to him & 'The Family.' Most of them are worthless except as pure exploitation. This is the only one that provides more than a snippet of actual interview footage with the man himself. It is primarily for this reason that I strongly recommend it. If you have any curiosity, or interest in Manson, whether you despise or admire this legendary American outlaw, you'll want to see "Charles Manson, Superstar" to augment your perception of him. Be advised that the makers of this film are evidently Neo-Nazis, and their biased approach is about as subtle as a brick dropping on your head. Even if Manson was/is a Nazi, I think such indulgences as the interview with James Mason, American Neo-Nazi, detract from rather than add to the film. On the plus side, George Stimson was a consultant on this film, and he was a confidante to CM, and onetime webmaster of the "official" Manson website.

Of all the films about Manson, this one, however amateurish, patronizing and biased, is the most legitimate, if only in the sense that it allows Charles Manson to speak for himself.

Other films of note on the subject are "Manson" [1972] and "The Helter Skelter Murders" aka "The Other Side Of Madness" [1970].

The film itself is interesting to see because it's a great example of a documentary that gets across the exact opposite message of what the filmmaker intended (Triumph Of The Will is another). The basic film goes between two types of footage. One is made up of still photos and stock footage (sometimes "enhanced" by lame psychedelic effects) with narration. The narration, read in monotone, sounds about like what you might expect a pseudo-rebel middle school student to post in a Manson chat room - It's Manson's familiar history told with glowing admiration and peppered with phrases like "Manson only reflects the society that imprisoned him" and references to "the conditioned masses" that consider Manson to be the half witted turd that he is. The narration criticizes Manson's victims and his keepers, while praising Manson. The filmmaker, Nikolas Schreck, also managed to score a lengthy prison interview with Manson. The interview delves only slightly into what Manson is infamous for (the pointless, envious, brutal murders of his racist hate cult), and instead centers on Manson's "philosophy". Manson's philosophy, as anyone who has seen him interviewed knows, is basically that everyone is phony and screwed up except him. He really says nothing else in the interview, and whenever he reaches a point in his monologue where he might otherwise say something informative, he instead makes a contorted face and giggles or does some kind of karate dragon dance. He is un-chained and un-handcuffed in the interview and is free to walk around the room. Whenever the filmmaker asks a difficult question (though, not much more difficult then "say something to the camera that you have always wanted to tell people"), Manson masterfully intimidates him off the topic by standing and approaching him or touching him, at one point taking one of his hands and caressing it for several seconds. The entire thing is scored by bootleg recordings of Manson's tortuously bad music.

This documentary is a dubiously sympathetic, though fascinating; look at perhaps the most famous killer of his generation. The film makers trace the personal history of Manson; challenging conventional takes along the way(and sometimes doing some very sloppy research, John Lennon DID NOT write the song "Helter Skelter") and letting the viewer judge for themselves.

They accomplish this, almost in spite of themselves, by including long slabs of interviews with Manson done in the late eighties. He rails against "PC MFS!(!), shows a truly passionate and poetic side; and reveals that his often sampled, seemingly meaningless ramblings are probably the result of mental illness due to long stretches of solitary confinement. How naturally evil and violent was this individual? The film lets you judge for yourself.

Watch it if you can find it. 9 out of 10.

This documentary is without doubt,for me,the best on the subject. Lots of great information presented from a point of view different than the usual. Add to that a lengthy,revealing,exclusive interview with Manson himself and you've got an exceptional video.Very informative!