The Other Side of Madness (1971)

The Other Side of Madness: Directed by Frank Howard. With Brian Klinknett, Erica Bigelow, Paula Shannon, Linda Van Compernolle. A mixture of documentary footage and re-enactment scenes, some filmed on the action locations, of the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders committed by the gang known as the Manson Family.

“I first heard of u0026#39;The Helter Skelter Murdersu0026#39; (under its alternative title u0026#39;The Other Side of Madnessu0026#39;) when reading about the 8/8/88 Satanic rally, organised by Zeena (daughter of Anton) LaVey and founder of the Werewolf Order Niclaus Schreck. During that rally, held on the anniversary of the Tate slayings, the movie was shown and when the depiction of the murders began the crowd actually cheered. Whilst certainly ghoulish, I was nonetheless intrigued and sought out the movie and soon saw why it was chosen: the film is a grimy, low-budget, quasi-documentary style exploitation movie shot mostly in black and white which gives it a creepy and authentic feel. The first half is a bizarre collection of scenes including a (pretty cool-looking) desert rock concert, life on Spahn ranch (where Manson and his family lived), court-room scenes, and, in the movieu0026#39;s only colour scene, a fairytale introduction to Sharon Tate. Actually, this first half is not particularly well-done as the aforementioned scenes donu0026#39;t gel together and, crucially, even though it was presumably made to cash-in on the notoriety of the Manson Murders, which were then very much in the news, apart from a few shots of vaguely Manson-looking guy and a recording of Mansonu0026#39;s u0026#39;Mechanical Manu0026#39; (not his best composition by a long shot) there is very little mention of Charlie and little-to-no development of the various members of his family who appear in the court-room scenes. However, itu0026#39;s with the shift to the second half that you really see the appeal to LaVey and Schreck as the whole remainder of the film is given over to a detailed, brutal, and drawn-out recollection of the Tate murders by one of the defendants. This section is quite well directed as it takes its time, building tension which is accentuated by the fact that we know what will happen but we donu0026#39;t know when the movie will show it (and how much it intends to show) and it certainly doesnu0026#39;t disappoint when it kicks off. Itu0026#39;s unsettling to think that the scenes drew cheers from people and, for me, this knowledge added an uncomfortable post-script to an already uncomfortable viewing experience. All told, the movie is an interesting addition to the Manson mythology although just barely managing to raise itself above its limitations by the impact of the murder scene. Gruesome and sensationalist it may be, but then so were the murders it depicts.”