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In this documentary, part of the 20th Century With Mike Wallace series from CBS News and the History Channel, series host and CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace goes behind the scenes of cults and how some cults carry their fanaticism to deadly heights.

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this episode heads back to the time of "make love not war" and looks at how the culture of those free-spirited times corresponds with the messages of some of the subsequent cults. 20th Century With Mike Wallace features interviews with some former and current cult members who share their reasons for joining a cult and how the cults compared with the hippie culture.

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John Aes-Nihil's Manson Family Movies has been filmed in a style that suggests it is nothing more than a collection of home movies taken by various members of Manson's cult. Filmed on many of the locations the family lived at or committed crimes at, this dialogue-free film uses real recordings of different "family" members singing and performing music. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

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The Manson Family

If some of the factual and character details are omitted or somewhat misrepresented, the fact still remains that Van Bebber has managed to capture the essence of the Manson "family" and their unthinkable deeds as no filmmaker has succeeded to date.

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Contact : last 30 minutes or so especially, which I showed in class.

The Apostle: I showed this one in class. I’d recommend it. The lead character, Sonny (Robert Duvall) is sufficiently complex as to generate spirited class discussion (Is he a big fraud? Why? Is he the real thing? Why?). His evangelical-style preaching is pretty gripping.

Stigmata : deals with incredulity and really out-there religious experiences.

Holy Smoke : about a cult deprogrammer (Harvey Keitel).

The Holy Ghost People : I also showed this one in class. I saw it when I was an undergraduate and it impressed me greatly. It’s about snake handlers in West Virginia, filmed in the 1960s. The problem is that the university’s copy, available through the anthropology department, is a film reel that is very old. It broke twice during our class, and despite my valiant efforts to mend it, we only got about half-way through it. If you can get your hands on a copy that works, I’d highly recommend it.)