Helter Skelter (2004)

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

Director:

John Gray

Writers:

Vincent Bugliosi (book), Curt Gentry (book)

Stars:

Jeremy Davies, Clea DuVall, Allison Smith

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Davies	...	Charles Manson
Clea DuVall	...	Linda Kasabian
Allison Smith	...	Patricia 'Katie' Krenwinkel
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)
Cheselka Leigh	...	Kathryn 'Kitty' Lutesinger

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

scene of the crime | murder of a pregnant woman | serial murder | murder | charles manson | 

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Taglines:

How did one man turn all-American teens into cold-blooded killers?

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

CBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Helter Skelter

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lakeside Productions, Wolper Organization, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 137 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this "Helter Skelter" film, Manson is shown with an "X" mark on his forehead. In real life Manson wore a Nazi Swastika tattoo on his forehead. (During the trial he carved the x to represent "his being x'd out of society" it wouldn't be until sometime later he turned it into the swastika.

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Goofs

The story takes place in 1969 but the phone Sharon Tate is talking on has an RJ10 connector which was not introduced till the late 1970s.

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Quotes

Voytek Frykowski: What time is it?
Charles "Tex" Watson: Be quiet. Don't move or you're dead.

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Connections

References Cry for Cindy (1976)

User Reviews

YAWN!

Mother Theresa was wrongly rewarded if we are to take this revisionist view of the Manson Family slaughter at it's face value. Linda Kasabian is presented as something like a wandering Brady kid who just made a few wrong choices.

The actors played their parts as though they were in an episode of NYPD Blue or Law & Order, with all the hip, urban "I've seen this all before" attitude -completely undermining the horror of the fact that during the time period the events took place NO ONE had seen ANYTHING like this before (that's why the crimes were so shocking).

Along similar lines, the entire look of the film was like watching a modern cop drama -the cinematography never once let go of the NYPD Blue graininess and roving camera moves. Aside from the old cars and very bad hippie hair, nothing about this film looked very "period."

The actor playing Bugliosi was particularly out of place, seeming like a demented cross between Joe Pesci and Tony Soprano. I kept expecting him to turn to the judge and say "You see your honor, there were these two yoots..." Or look Charlie in the eye and say something like "Am I a clown? Do I amuse you?"

Skip this exploitative redress and stick to the original.