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A deep dive into alternative theories surrounding the Manson murders reveals unexpected connections to government agencies, mind control experiments, and key figures from the era, challengin... Read allA deep dive into alternative theories surrounding the Manson murders reveals unexpected connections to government agencies, mind control experiments, and key figures from the era, challenging the accepted narrative.A deep dive into alternative theories surrounding the Manson murders reveals unexpected connections to government agencies, mind control experiments, and key figures from the era, challenging the accepted narrative.
Charles Manson
- Self - Manson Family Leader
- (archive footage)
Bobby Beausoleil
- Self - Convicted Murderer
- (archive footage)
- (voice)
Sharon Tate
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Voytek Frykowski
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Jay Sebring
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Abigail Folger
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Steve Parent
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Leno LaBianca
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Rosemary LaBianca
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Gary Hinman
- Self - Manson Family Murder Victim
- (archive footage)
Bernard Crowe
- Self - Manson Shooting Victim
- (archive footage)
- (as Bernard 'Lotsapoppa' Crowe)
Ronnie Howard
- Self - Susan Atkins' Cellmate
- (archive footage)
Virginia Graham
- Self - Susan Atkins' Cellmate
- (archive footage)
Terry Melcher
- Self - Music Producer
- (archive footage)
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Summary
Reviewers say 'Chaos: The Manson Murders' has mixed reception. Praises include engaging presentation, intriguing interviews, and unique insights into Manson's psyche and possible government involvement. Criticisms highlight rushed pacing, lack of depth, and failure to fully explore the book's theories. Some find the documentary disjointed, confusing, and overly reliant on conspiracy theories. Others appreciate its concise format and the director's style, despite noting it could benefit from more detailed exploration.
Featured reviews
An enormous disappointment, CHAOS (based on the excellent Tom O'Neill book of the same name) barely scratches the surface of the incredible discoveries O'Neill made and the implications they have for the Manson case. This oddly short, 90-some minute doc, instead plays more like your standard true crime piece, with much time devoted to summarizing the murders themselves for anyone who hadn't yet heard about them. What about the story about how the victims of the Tate murders had the power lines cut when they were watching TV at Jay Sebring's home, the night before the murders - proving that they were not killed as a result of some mixup about Terry Melcher still living at Cielo? What about incredibly suspect names and connections like Reeve Whitson and Charles Tacot, or mobster (and associate of Jay Sebring) Charlie Baron? What about even Bugliosi's astonishing corruption, and incredibly vile acts of evil in his personal life, which hint at him being controlled via blackmail by higher ups? And on and on. This documentary is simply a joke and does not do justice to the true scope and horror of this case. It makes Wormwood look like an absolute masterpiece, and indeed at least that effort from Morris was pretty fair to the subject and didn't seem quite so neutered. This should have been easily a 3-5 ep miniseries; 90 minutes is just far too little for a story like this.
While this documentary was highly entertaining, holding my interest for its duration, it certainly wasn't earth-shattering in its analysis or profoundly insightful. As far as this viewer could tell, the central premise of the film - that Manson and his followers were (perhaps unwitting) participants in MK Ultra, a CIA-administered "mind control" project relying primarily on the use of the hallucinogen LSD - the research into both components of this dyad (i.e., Manson and MK Ultra) seemed superficial at best, retelling only what numerous previous docs on these subjects separately have reveled, drawing only tentative, unsurprising correlations between them. Still, the presentation of material was concise and balanced, allowing viewers to arrive at their own conclusions. The interviews with many of the key players were likewise fair, interesting, and new. All-in-all, a well-made, if not jaw-dropping, endeavour.
I have yet to read the book that this documentary is based on ("Chaos: The Truth Behind the Manson Murders" by Tom O'Neill and Dan Piepenbring. I believe the hardcover version was titled "Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties"). I've read several reviews of the book that go into the specifics O'Neill uncovered in greater detail than this documentary did. This documentary touches on some of what he found, but not all of it. O'Neill's book appears to be a much more thorough and truthful book on the subject than Bugliosi's Helter Skelter (O'Neill proves that Bugliosi purposely lied and left key facts out of his book). For a good introduction to O'Neill's book, check out Abby Aguirre's Substack post about it, or her excellent review "Down the Manson Rabbit Hole" in the LA Review of Books.
It's worth watching if the subject interests you, but from the reviews I've read the book sounds much more comprehensive. The documentary has some interesting interviews with one of the prosecutors, some Manson family members, and O'Neill himself. It brings up some of the questions found in the book, such why did Manson's parole officer continue to insist that Manson was doing great when meanwhile he was arrested repeatedly (and not locked up for violating his parole)? Why have Manson's complete parole records never been released? Why were his parole files not permitted as evidence in his trial?
I feel the documentary could have been edited better and should have been longer and included more of the details from the book, but it is still interesting for people who want to learn more about this subject.
It's worth watching if the subject interests you, but from the reviews I've read the book sounds much more comprehensive. The documentary has some interesting interviews with one of the prosecutors, some Manson family members, and O'Neill himself. It brings up some of the questions found in the book, such why did Manson's parole officer continue to insist that Manson was doing great when meanwhile he was arrested repeatedly (and not locked up for violating his parole)? Why have Manson's complete parole records never been released? Why were his parole files not permitted as evidence in his trial?
I feel the documentary could have been edited better and should have been longer and included more of the details from the book, but it is still interesting for people who want to learn more about this subject.
The book by Tom O'Neill was excellent and when I heard about this coming to Netflix, I was excited. But making it into an hour and a half made it very rushed. Pretty disappointed they didn't make it into at least a 4-part series.
A 4-part series would have at least allowed for the time to explore so much more of the backstory and details that were in the book. I guess maybe it's possible that they will make Chaos a series of documentaries about the different parts of the book, but if not, this was a real let down for me.
I highly recommend the book by Tom O'Neill if this documentary at least piqued your interest.
A 4-part series would have at least allowed for the time to explore so much more of the backstory and details that were in the book. I guess maybe it's possible that they will make Chaos a series of documentaries about the different parts of the book, but if not, this was a real let down for me.
I highly recommend the book by Tom O'Neill if this documentary at least piqued your interest.
This ninety (90) minute documentary is based upon Tom O'Neil's controversial book on the Manson Family. His book is a counter to the best selling Bugliosi book, Helter Skelter. The basic premise of the book and documentary is that Manson was not simply a crazy cult leader. He was a product of CIA MK Ultra LSD mild control experimentation by the US Government. The movie uses great documentary and interview clips to tell the story. It also uses Manson's original music as part of the soundtrack. The biggest issue with the documentary is that if you don't have some level of understanding of the facts and characters the film may be hard to follow. I recommend it anyway, and the book.
Did you know
- Quotes
Tom O'Neill: Frankly, I still don't know what happened. But I know that what we were told isn't what happened.
- ConnectionsFeatures The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Caos: Los crímenes de Manson
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
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