The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter

I was very excited to see this film. The story of Charles Manson is very interesting to me. I had a very hard time making it past the first few minutes of this film. The narrator delivers the information so hastily, and with out any discernible order. He just babbles on incessantly. I will give him credit, he is passionate about the story he is telling, but is overly excited and somewhat unable to be followed. There's a wealth of information here, but its piled upon its self in such a way that it is nearly impossible to sort it. Parts are better then others, but i was very disappointed in the film. I feel that if someone who had better public speaking skills, and better delivery, this could have been a very good informational film. The narration jumps around, and is full of information that does not relate to the story line being discussed at that point.

This is a documentary about the Charles Manson murders, but also about the hobbies of the man who is obsessed with celebrity deaths. The Manson family is covered, as are many, many others topics that may be of interest to Manson scholars.

opens with a disclaimer saying that there are so many different theories that some people will find something about this film they disagree with. As I entered into the film looking for flaws, that struck me a bit personally. Though, it did not stop me from looking for flaws.

The film is different from other documentaries -- it actually spends little time on Manson at all, focusing more on the victims and the various houses they lived in and places they worked. There is some interesting background on Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski. Many other tangential connections... but if you have read as much Manson material as I have, this is actually quite a treat.

If you haven't heard Manson's music, you should. "Cease to Exist" is featured in this film, which went on to be a Beach Boys tune. No aspect of the crimes or lives of those involved goes uncovered. Even Jack Nicholson and the movie "Grease" somehow get tied in.

I absolutely, positively recommend this film to anyone who has an interest in Charles Manson. I think I know a lot more than the average person about the crimes, but this documentary still keyed me in to things I could never have discovered otherwise.

You might expect SIX DEGREES OF HELTER SKELTER to be another bland rehash of the facts, dates, and events of the Manson Family murders. Instead, it's a fresh, insightful documentary full of interesting history, as well as some fascinatingly bizarre, coincidental details and odd minutia.

If you're intrigued by The Family and their exploits, then you'll want to add this to your information stockpile...

Released in 2009 and directed by Michael Dorsey, "Six Degrees of Helter Skelter" is a micro-budget documentary that examines the Manson family and the infamous Tate/LeBianca murders that shocked the world in August, 1969, bringing to end the idealism of the hippie movement. Host Scott Michaels visits more than 40 locations in Southern California as he goes into detail about the victims, their murderers and Manson's ties to the Hollywood elite.

Charles Manson was a decent singer/songwriter and the documentary includes (a snippet of) one of his songs, "Cease to Exist," performed by the Manson family. Although he wasn't anything phenomenal, Manson had a real shot at making it, but his narcissism, paranoia, and general malice toward everything destroyed it. He ruined everything he touched, everyTHING and everyONE. He wreaked havoc on dozens, no hundreds, of lives, probably thousands. And his psychopathic acts were the death knell of the good side of the counter-culture movement. Technically, a psychopath is not actually insane. These types simply have no conscience. Hurting & killing people, doing horrible things and wreaking havoc on society doesn't bother them in the least.

Costing only $200,000, this documentary is not a polished production. It's only a couple steps above a typical Youtube video and mostly consists of Michaels visiting the many locations and elaborating details in a freeform manner. He often throws in interesting side bits here and there. Some people criticize that he tends to ramble and sometimes stumbles over his words, but I understood everything he was saying perfectly and appreciated his casual, non-rehearsed, fact-oriented delivery. Micro-budget or not, the film is very informative and takes you to the actual locations of the infamous crimes, combined with a lot of stock footage of the people and events. For a documentary, it fulfills its purpose.

The film runs 103 minutes.

GRADE: B-

If you're expecting a movie, I wouldn't say you found the right film. This is more of a documentary. I liked this a lot because I learned some stuff that I didn't know. Of course, I'd like to verify the things I've learned just in case they're not 100% spot on. But it is entertaining and educational nonetheless. The Manson Murders have fascinated me ever since I started to learn, and the book shown inside the film, titled 'Helter Skelter', is a book I am looking forward to purchasing. I give this film a 7 because I learned from it and absorbed information from it, but I couldn't give it a 9 or a 10 because at times it felt a little too slow pace. But that's just me. I would have liked to see more Charles Manson, but others, like yourselves, might not want to. If not, this is your film. Again, pretty good film. Not the best, not the worst. Good.Educational.