Helter Skelter

A strong start - the pulsating song "Helter Skelter" (by a band who is not The Beatles) over a montage of 1960s images, and then a swift deposit into the home of music teacher Gary Hinman where we are witness to his brutal senseless killing by Family members Bobby Beausoleil and Susan "Sadie" Atkins. Charlie himself shows up in no time wielding the sword that takes off a piece of Gary's ear. To a true crime buff this is gold, getting to see a re-enactment of that which had not been seen before. Then the movie becomes "The Linda Kasabian Story". We meet Linda as she's introduced, young daughter in arms, to the Family and their home, a disheveled old movie ranch, by Family member Gypsy. From that point onward it's as if we see the story through her eyes only; Clea Duvall, impressive as Linda, is in nearly every frame henceforth. By pointedly attempting to defy comparison to the original, this latest adaptation of the book "Helter Skelter" by prosecuting attorney turned author Vincent Bugliosi, invites just that. Comparison. It tries way too hard to be the anti-1974 version by showing us many of the episodes we didn't get to see in the first (Bobby being pulled over by the police for driving a stolen car, Sharon Tate's possible encounter with a trespassing Manson days before the murder) and omits most of what it assumes we've seen before. There is none of the great detective work of Bugliosi. Bruno Kirby (miscast as Bugliosi) doesn't even show up until nearly two hours into the three hour film. At that point the movie just rushes to get it all over with. As Manson, Jeremy Davies, is adequate. He's studied Charlie's mannerisms, that's for sure, but the lack of actual physical resemblance made for a portrayal hard to swallow. The buzz was we'd learn more about Manson this go 'round; we didn't. Speaking of resemblances, other than Clea Duvall's (and her wig is wretched) to the person she plays, there isn't any to be found here. Many of the family girls were redheads. Most notably Squeaky Fromme, who later went on to attempt to assassinate President Ford. She was copper-haired and freckled. Yet here she's played by Mary Lynn Rajskub (of "24") who's blonde and fair complected. And Kitty Lutesinger had a beautiful mane of auburn hair yet the make-up department chose to give the actress who plays her (Cheselka Leigh) a despicable ratty blonde wig (in this day of chemical treatments and hair extensions why the cheap and obvious wigs?). This probably would have been much better had it been longer, perhaps spread out over two nights. A great disservice was done to the story by having it cruise along at top speed and then bottom out in the final act.

Of all the murder trials in American history, only the Charles Manson case continues to hold fascination thirty-five years after it took place. The original "Helter Skelter" film aired on CBS in 1976, and focused mainly on the trial of Manson and his zombie teen girls. It was an excellent TV movie, but we never really got a sense of what life with Manson and his young followers was like. This film takes a different approach by focusing on Manson himself, the young people whose lives were ruined by him, and by depicting the actual murders themselves, which were quite intense for a television film. Jeremy Davies ("Spanking the Monkey," "Saving Private Ryan") was deeply scary as Manson. Clea Duvall did a fabulous job as Linda Kasabian, the "family" member who witnessed the murders but did not participate. After the murders, we get the sense that Kasabian is really torn up inside and knows that what was happening was very wrong, while other family members laughed and cheered as they watched news reports of the savage killings on television. Another excellent performance was by Whitney Dylan as Sharon Tate, the pregnant actress who was violently butchered by Manson's murderous teen followers. The scene in which she is on the floor dying and asks the killers to please try and save her baby was chilling and almost tear-inducing. We also get an excellent feel of the turbulent atmosphere of the time, 1969, and how the Manson murders brought "the decade of love" to a thundering halt. What makes this so sad and scary is that this actually happened. The fact that all-American teens from respectable families fell prey to a maniacal con man and are now spending their lives in prison is a frightening reminder of how young people can so easily be led astray by false prophets who promise the world and eventually can lead you into darkness and tragedy, whether it is 1969 or 2004. This film makes you want to hug and talk to your kids about the evil, dangerous alure of cults and false religions. All of the kids in the Manson family were runaways, and Charlie told them exactly what they wanted to hear and soon had them clinging to his every deceptive word. Manson continues to have a following among young people, thirty-five years after these awful crimes, and that's what is really disturbing. Watch the original 1976 film for an exhaustive dramatization of the trial itself, and see this remake for details of the events leading up to the trial. Way above average for television.

I sure enjoyed this campy, terrible new version of Bugliosi's flawed, fascinating version of the Manson murders. I suppose the production's tragic flaw is that Warner Bros. was determined to exploit Jeremy Davies' uncanny Charles Manson impersonation, but unwilling to devote much time to it. It's difficult to say who could respect this version of the horrifying events which brought an end to hippiedom. Squeezed unhappily into a little over two hours, those familiar with the case will sneer at the ruthless editing and condensation of the facts and events surrounding the murders. Incredibly, the film comes to an abrupt halt before the trial, hastily summed up in text just before the final credits, even begins! Those only passingly familiar, or unfamiliar, with Manson will simply be left out in the cold by the completely incoherent, fragmented narrative. Luckily, it's loaded with camp value, and there are occasional glimmers of how great this version could have been if they had only pumped up the silliness a few more notches. On the DVD, for instance, there is an outtake of a scene where Susan Atkins breaks into a torrid go-go dance in prison, and you wish she would burst into song, too, so that the whole production would go where it obviously wants to go. Another laughable aspect is the consistent undermining of the various actresses' performances by their ludicrous wigs. Unfortunately, this production doesn't live up to the inherent promise of the source material, either as true crime, or as bad-taste comedy, so I can't give it four stars. Nevertheless, it's wrong-headed enough to be fun, even if all I could think while watching it was how much better it could have been if John Waters had directed it.

Being as hyped as this movie was, not only was it flawed, it was just plain boring.

Although the choice to use Linda Kasabian was a smart one, and interesting to say the least, everything else was yawn-inducing.

The performance of Jeremy Davies as Charles Manson was surprising - he pulled it off perfectly - the performances of those at Cielo Drive were cringe-worthy. Even after spending time with Sharon Tate's sister, Whitney Dylan still couldn't find the spark to play her.

For reasons unknown, CBS took the step of changing the address of Cielo Drive from 10050 to 10000 - do they know that the now infamous house has been gone for 10 years? They also took the opportunity to change some already dramatic scenes from 1969 to pathetic and downright moronic scenes for this film. Yes, Charles Manson did see Sharon Tate at Cielo Drive in real life, but not like it was shown in the film. And, for anyone who has knowledge on this case, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski were not that cozy or loving when they were killed - FAR from it.

Not only did CBS leave many with the wrong idea about those in Cielo Drive, they thought they could get away with overlooking small details of the case. I, for one, noticed them all.

All in all, Clea and Jeremy probably saved this film from being even more boring than it was. They were the only interesting things about this film and should be rewarded by CBS if this dreadful piece gets high ratings.

Although I liked this remake of the '76 version, the original still surpassed it by miles. Jeremy Davies gave a very good performance as Manson, yet didn't send chills down my spine like Steve Railsback did in the original. Although I understand that the focus of this remake was more on Manson and the family and less on the investigation and trial, I felt some key details were, maybe purposely, left out. One that really bothered me was the fact that on both nights, the killers wore dark clothing and brought changes of clothing with them, though in this version they wore whatever they happened to have on at the ranch. Tossing the bloody clothing and weapons over an embankment, they had discarded what eventually became some of the first physical pieces of evidence found linking them directly to the crimes, other than actual prints found at the crime scene. For a film that supposedly paid such close attention to detail, this was a big one to omit. All in all, worth seeing. Do see the original, though, and I think you'll agree that Steve Railsback gave an almost effortless performance as Manson, seeming to be looking at you right through your TV screen.