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.
