Blu-ray Review: The Other Side of Madness (1971)
After a moody, dialog-free opening (a trend that will continue for much of the film’s runtime) that shows the Manson family planning the Tate-LaBianca Murders as ol’ Charlie observes, we shift our focus to some wild-ass hippie hootenanny taking place on the outskirts of the Spahn Ranch interspersed with scenes of the Family in court on trial for their murder biz! As the story unfolds we are introduced to the doomed starlet Sharon Tate (Debbie Duff), and before long we are balls-deep into the events of the night of August 9th and10th in all of their disturbing detail… all of which is presented in a fashion akin to a documentary, which makes the horror all the more impactful. Does this all sound a bit disjointed? Well it certainly is… but The Other Side of Madness has a shit-ton of energy and some truly arty-farty touches that makes the entire affair as hallucinogenic and fever-dream addled as the times would dictate!
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