The Beach Boys and the Satan

The title is self-explanatory: this 1997 documentary plays up the tenuous connection and brief friendship that once flowered between Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and the psychopathic, homicidal Manson Family, headlined by songwriter-turned-cult leader (and mass murderer) Charles Manson. The film begins with a chronicle of The Beach Boys' rise to commercial glory, placing the ensemble into an unusual context with very rarely-screened behind-the-scenes footage of the artists, then expands its focus to chart the interpersonal connections between Church of Satan leader Anton La Vey, experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger, Wilson and, ultimately, Manson. The motion picture incorporates interviews with Wilson, Don Was and Kim Fowley.