[Netflix Review] Chaos: The Manson Murders

[NETFLIX REVIEW] CHAOS: THE MANSON MURDERS

Needing a break from the insanity of politics, I tuned to something far more tranquilizing — a new documentary on the Charles Manson murders.

Why? What’s the point of digesting cold, stale leftovers? What newly-harvested discoveries could possibly be revealed about a 56-year-old crime story that’s already been bludgeoned to death? Oops–bad word choice there.

For those in need of a refresher: In the late 1960s, Manson was a crazed madman who led the so-called “Manson Family,” a drugged-out cult based in the outskirts of Los Angeles. Hey, you can judge Charlie all you want, but the guy sure had game at getting girls. Doped up during the summer of 1969, Manson’s beastly brood of beauties committed nine killings, including the brutal murder of actress Sharon Tate, wife of film director Roman Polanski. Eighteen months later, the trial became nearly as chaotic as the crimes they committed. Manson, along with several cult members, were ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Remorseless and defiant for nearly five decades thereafter, Manson died in 2017. All I can say is, he sure missed out on some huge royalties.

According to my Google count, the Manson murders have sparked a whopping 51 books and at least a dozen movies, including Quentin Tarantino’s highly-acclaimed, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. That loosely-based portrait came out in 2019, and since we haven’t feasted on a new Manson fix in six long years, one of the world’s top documentarians figured–it’s time for a fresh grave dig. Whoever said Sharon Tate’s film career was done with her death sure got it wrong. Let’s be honest here, she’s enjoyed steady work ever since. She’s done more screen time than James Dean.

Chaos: The Manson Murders debuted this week on Netflix. It’s based on the book, Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, written by Tom O’Neill. I confess to never having heard of the book prior to watching 90-minute Netflix showing. I don’t expect it will wind up on my bookshelf.

I was lured into watching by the documentary’s director, Oscar-winner Errol Morris. He’s made at least two astounding films, The Thin Blue Line (1988) and The Fog of War (2003). One expects that Morris’ name gives any subject matter he tackles instant credibility. At a minimum, Morris could be expected to provide a fresh look at — albeit — an old story.

This review will not attempt to regurgitate the preposterous insinuation made throughout the film that Manson and his followers were the subjects of high-level government experimentations gone catastrophically wrong. The documentary plays very loose with actual facts. While the CIA and other government agencies wrongly (and sometimes recklessly) used unsuspecting victims to test the effects of LSD and other mind-altering drugs on human behavior, there’s no evidence to suggest Manson or anyone connected to the murders were in any way connected to a conspiracy. Was Manson actually a drug-hooked Machurian Candidate? Don’t bother with a FOIA request–if that file ever existed it ended up in a burn bag. Accordingly, parts of this thesis are cringeworthy. For those who value facts and want actual evidence, this is pure Helter fucking Skelter.

That doesn’t mean Chaos: The Manson Murders is unwatchable, of course. To the contrary. Manson and his girls always deliver the ultimate coke and sugar high for the loyal rubberneckers of serial-murders. And given the extraordinary number of programs and popularity of “crime as entertainment” in pop culture, there are plenty of pseudo-junkies addicted to the TV needle.

Days and weeks from now, this too shall pass — destined to be another dabble of criminal dreck in the porridge of history’s dustbin. Then, sometime ahead, probably much sooner than we think, another book about the murders will pop up and a new film treatment will get made. Somehow, Manson has morphed into a sick cross between fat Elvis and Scarface — bigger even in death than ever in life. And, Sharon Tate’s agent is certain to stay busy.