If you are really interested enough in the whole Manson affair to
devote 7 hours to it, it would probably be best to see this together
with the 1976 original, because the two fascinatingly complement
each other like yin and yang, or two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Moreover, in spite of the chronology of their release, it would
probably be better to see the 2004 version first, then the 1976
version. The 1976 version begins with the murders already having
occured, whereas the 2004 version focuses mainly on the events
leading up to the murders, and hardly at all on the legal aspects. It
could be summed up: 1976 version, mostly detective and legal
work, 2004 version, mostly a psychological study.
The 2004 version succeeds quite well in showing how Manson
had the power that he did. Nothing that Manson says makes
much sense; he exhibits what shrinks call tangentiality, i.e., the
inability to focus on a point. While this leads most people to avoid
Manson in the outside world, in the cloistered environment of
Manson's commune, it forces the listener to listen all the more
closely. In Jeremy Davies' riveting performance, Manson seems
almost oracular; the very obscurity of what he was saying can
make him seem, to the young naifs with whom he surrounded
himself, profound. It is easy to see how they found him hypnotic.
Davies makes Manson seem scarier than ever.
