Charles Manson: The Funeral (2019 TV Movie) User Reviews

HELTER SKELTER !

[dixiedoggg · 2/10 · 17 April 2019]

A couple hours of watching the grandson of Charlie Manson grieve over his grandfather.

A few interesting tidbits over who the grandson is, his father and mother, and that is about it. The friends of Charlie are some burnt out hippies who gather at the casket and reminisce about whether he was a monster or a good guy.

Reelz TV probably thought they were getting the scoop of a lifetime, and probably a lot of people tuned in, but I bet like me, they just fast forwarded through most of it. What took 2 hours to tell could have been done in 10 minutes. The still photos of Charlie showed endlessly and the poor grandson was mostly portrayed standing around soaking in his newfound fame.

How this story could have been told any different is beyond me, poor Charlie was shown in the casket toward the end to depressing music, I bet even Charlie would have got bored had he seen it.

2 stars for a good idea to show an icon from the 60's having his funeral.

Fluff history piece that will soon be forgotten.....

Sad

[georgechambless · 2/10 · 18 October 2021]

Manson's grandson seems to be a very naïve and immature person for allowing this show to be made. He lets a group of ghoulish hangers-on be involved in the cremation and scattering of ashes. They even wipe the ashes on their faces.

Was he trying to get some fame out of this? I can't tell. To me he just ends up looking kind of pathetic, which is a good description of this entire show.

Lots of '60s pictures of Manson's family and their 'adventures' are featured, which was kind of interesting. But certainly not worth two hours of time.

What a waste of time.

[IceQueen99 · 2/10 · 28 March 2021]

A two hour program that could've been told in 20 minutes. It's sad that those who think Manson wasn't a cult leader and was wrongly convicted are the ones who are now the most brainwashed and living a life of denial.

An Unfortunate End for A History Making Man

[evemmerrick · 6/10 · 9 June 2024]

You'd think that Charlie Manson's funeral would have been an interesting event, with people either cursing him or worshipping him, but you would be wrong. His body was handed over to a grandson who didn't know him at all, and that man's wife spends the entirety of the documentary dissing everybody who attended the very small and private funeral.

The grandson seemed as though he felt it's was his duty to deal with his notorious grandfather's dead body and like he was supposed to feel SOMETHING. He fought other people who actually knew his Granddad for custody of the remains then says at the end that it was really all about getting to close that chapter of his life, to be able to discard Manson and wipe his hands of him.

At one point he sits down with a surviving Manson Family member and acts surprised to hear what his Grandpa was like when he was young... What rock has this man been living under his entire life? If he didn't care to learn anything about Manson while he was alive why the sudden battle to get cred for burying his body?

They have a funeral service displaying Manson's 4+ month old decayed corpse (the prison stuck him in the fridge rather than the freezer) where a pastor lists off all the ways that Charlie became evil before they have him cremated and scatter his ashes near a river. A few of his friends and/or close fans attend and genuinely seem heartbroken, crying and standing up to say the only nice things the entire time. Meanwhile the grandson and his wife act as though they wanted no one else there - did they hold this funeral just for fame? Money? To ridicule the corpse and everybody who came to pay tribute to it?

While the grandson does seem to try to have an open mind and allow the people who attended the funeral to mourn in their own way, his wife (who makes up the bulk of the interviews) is an absolute horridly hateful woman. She spent the whole time attempting to make funeral goers uncomfortable, making fun of them all and saying mean things. She acts incredibly jealous of the fact that her husband has to share the spotlight with anybody who actually knew and cared about Charles Manson, repeatedly reminding her husband that "this is his moment".

I quite literally spent most of the time I was watching this screaming at this ugly woman for being so blasphemous! I get it, he was Charles freaking Manson, but geez lady have some respect for the dead! Maybe don't go to funerals (or marry grandkids) of people that you despise, and if you must than hold your tongue and allow those present to grieve for somebody that they knew and loved.

The whole thing made me sad & mad - they shouldn't have fought in court to get his remains if they just wanted to crap all over his dead body. It made them seem like opportunistic villains while they accused everybody else of that. A few other people (who also didn't know Manson) did interviews where they called the funeral attendees evil and crazy. The couple of folks who got to talk about their relationship with Manson was really the best part of the whole film because they were REAL. They weren't pretending or acting pretentious, their emotions are valid and deserved to be heard.

After all, Charles Manson served his time and died in prison. He paid for his crimes and if there is an afterlife I'm sure he'll continue being punished there. But collecting the corpse of someone who you neither knew nor liked just so you can be the star of the funeral show and hate on everyone who attends is a new kind of low. Maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all...