Spahn Ranch Scene - Spoilers
That was my favorite scene, and an edge of the seat one for me. There was an air of menace to it, from the time Cliff (Brad Pitt character) shows up with the hippie girl and begins to realize there's something off there, all the hippie chicks lolling around glaring at him, oozing hostility, and him getting more and more suspicious as he walks around. The girls get more hostile when he says he wants to pay a visit to George Spahn in the old house. Ignoring their hostility, he strolls off toward the house and has a confrontation with Squeaky Fromme at the door, telling her he's coming in no matter what she says. He does and finally has his visit with George, played hilariously by Bruce Dern.
During all this, I kept thinking, is Cliff going to get out of there alive? Are all these girls, 15 or so of them screaming insanely, going to attack him with knives when he comes out? They don't, but the menace ratchets up a little more when he nonchalantly returns to his car and finds a knife sticking out of his now flat tire, and a guy on the fence giggling at him. When Cliff tells the guy to "fix it," the guy giggles some more and tells Cliff to fuck off. Cliff punches the shit out of him, making him change the flat for the spare, and the girls starts to approach. He tells them if they don't stop, he'll knock the guy's teeth out. They do stop. but one of them rides off for Tex, their leader after Manson, and Tex comes riding back on his horse, bringing more of the menacing feel with him.
But all Tex sees is Cliff driving off, his flat fixed by now, and that's it. Whew! I breathed a sigh of relief.