Visions of Hell: The Films of Jim VanBebber

Jim VanBebber is hardly a household name, even among devotees of American independent moviemaking. Working in Dayton, OH with friends, VanBebber has made only two feature films over a couple of decades, along with a handful of shorts, all of which are included in this set. The most famous—or perhaps notorious—of VanBebber's movies is certainly The Manson Family, a grindhouse flick that VanBebber labored over for 15 years before its brief theatrical release in 2003. An extremely uneven film, marred by amateurish acting and a “modern” story about a reporter planning a TV special on the Tate-LaBianca killings who is targeted by some Manson-inspired punks, The Manson Family is stylistically clever (mimicking the pop conventions of the ‘60s), and even though abundant nudity and gore are on display, the film isn't simply sensationalistic. Even better is the 1988 Deadbeat at Dawn, a piece of pulp exploitation in which VanBebber, exhibiting his martial arts moves in some over-the-top fight scenes, plays a gang leader out for revenge after rivals kill his girlfriend. Also included are VanBebber's five shorts, with one of the highlights being My Sweet Satan (1994), a gruesome piece about drug-addled devil worshippers. DVD extras include two documentaries—“The VanBebber Family” (with cast and crew interviews) and “In the Belly of the Beast” (about the 1997 FanTasia Festival in Montreal, where VanBebber showed an early cut of The Manson Family)—and an interview with Charles Manson. For fans of extreme underground moviemaking, this set will be a must, but this should still be considered optional for all but the most adventurous of collections. (F. Swietek)