To enjoy and relate to exploitation films you have to have
an understanding of what they are exactly. This genre of film as the name says
exploits something. More often than not most exploitation films exploited
nudity at a time when it wasn’t so prevalent in films. These days you see it
within 10 minutes of every made for HBO/Showtime series you find. But that
wasn’t always the case.
But exploitation films were also movies that were almost
always made on a low budget with a tight time constraint and focused on
whatever was hot at the moment. Thus we had racing films, biker films, horror
films and more that were rushed into theaters to capitalize on current trends.
And on occasion these films focused on major headlines. Like the film THE OTHER
SIDE OF MADNESS.
THE OTHER SIDE OF MADNESS was the first film to capitalize
on the Manson murders. A number followed like HELTER SKELTER and recently
Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. But this movie was the first. And
unlike those this one chose not to use name actors and the format most films
used. It was its own creation.
The film is almost like a documentary using actual new items
at the time of the trial to tell the story, not using a narrative structure but
combining bits and pieces of past and present at the time. It was made while
the Tate/LaBianca trial was going on. The names of various people involve were
left out to avoid litigation for the film’s director and producer. The film
moves back and forth from visits in the court room where the trial is taking
place to the actions involved, using the court room scenes to set up what is to
come.
Shot in black and white the film never offers the extreme
gore than many exploitation films of the time did but does project and uneasy
amount of violence in the brutal killing sequences. Like many horror films the
actual penetrations of weapons are not displayed but can still be imagined in
the useful camera techniques that are employed. The use of no name actors in
the cast helps preserve that sense of dread rather than watching a well-known
star in each role.
All in all the film isn’t the most entertaining film to sit
and watch but it does capture a moment in time when the world was fearful of
the unknown, of that “hippie generation” that seemed too different for most.
Being made at a time when mistrust and fear was high the film did good money at
the box-office and played in grindhouses and drive-ins across the country.
This version of the film is being released by The Film
Detective and they’ve done a great job of it here. To being with the film is
offered for the first time in a 4k transfer from the original camera negative.
They’ve also compiled a number of extras that make this one worth ordering if
you’re a fan of true crime or Manson films. These include a narration from
producer Wade Williams, an original documentary THE OTHER SIDE OF MADNESS: WITH
PRODUCER WADE WILLIAMS, a featurette entitled MECHANICAL MAN: WADE WILLIAMS
MEETS MANSON, a 12 page collector’s booklet with commentary from award-winning
film director Alexander Tushinski, the original theatrical for both films the
movie was released as (THE OTHER SIDE OF MADNESS and THE HELTER SKELTER
MURDERS) and in the first releasing of this title are selections from the LP
the Manson recorded including the songs “Mechanical Man” and “Garbage Dump”.
As a curiosity piece this is one worth picking up. For fans
of the genre it is worth picking up. For fans of exploitation it is worth
picking up. And for those who remember the fear of that summer when it all took
place, you might want to give this one a watch.
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