Helter Skelter (2004) (TV)

Director:

John Gray

Writers (WGA):

Vincent Bugliosi (book) and
Curt Gentry (book) ...

Release Date:

16 May 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Based on the true story of the Manson murders.

Plot:

A new take on the Manson Family murders, with a keen focus on Charles Manson himself. |

Plot Keywords:

Charles Manson | Loss Of Loved One | Art Theft | Shot In The Head | Doctor

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeremy Davies	...	Charles Manson
Clea DuVall	...	Linda Kasabian
Allison Smith	...	Patricia 'Katie' Krenwinkle
Frank Zieger	...	Clem Watkins
Eric Dane	...	Charles "Tex" Watson
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme
Michael Weston	...	Bobby Beausoleil
Hal Ozsan	...	Joey Dimarco
Rick Gomez	...	Milio
Robert Joy	...	Detective Morrisy
Graham Beckel	...	Jerry
Chris Ellis	...	Sgt. Whiteley
Isabella Hofmann	...	Rosemary LaBianca
Robert Costanzo	...	Leno LaBianca
Yvonne Delarosa	...	Catherine 'Gypsy' Share (as Yvonne De La Rosa)

Runtime:

USA:180 min (including commercials) | 137 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (director's cut) | New Zealand:R18 | UK:15 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Lakeside Productions

Trivia:

In 2001, Jeremy Davies was in preparations for a different independent film about Charles Manson. He made a tape for the filmmakers of himself playing Manson and the tape became a popular bootleg in the industry. CBS cast Davies and allowed him to rewrite his lines due to his performance in the tape.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The opening credits montage of iconic '60s imagery includes an adult cinema marquee showing the film Cry for Cindy (1976) which wasn't released until 1976.

Quotes:

Charles Manson: This court is out of order.

Movie Connections:

References Valley of the Dolls (1967)

Great Effort, But Extremely Flawed

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.