Helter Skelter (2004)

Thanks for the memories!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

For anyone who doesn't know, Helter Skelter was a psychopathic idea that criminal Charles Manson had after listening to a Beatles song by the same title (which is really too bad because The Beatles had nothing to do with these horrible murders but were likely blamed once or twice). Charles Manson was the leader of a hippie group in 1969 and he influenced various murders and is now spending his life in jail.This remake of the 1976 movie Helter Skelter is very good if you want some more information on the Charles Manson case and his story. However, if you're watching it for the nostalgia of the Sixties, you won't find it. The soundtrack for the most part sounds obviously 21st century and the actors, especially the hippie girls, talk, act and dress like people in the 21st century do. Most of the actors and actresses look like they should be sitting there texting on their pathetic cellular devices, crouched on an electric recliner wrapped up in Snuggies and eating Pizza Pockets right out of the box. I'm not trying to get too technical or anything, but watch the Hair musical (1979), I Drink Your Blood (1970), Running With Scissors (2006) or the original Helter Skelter (1976) if you want to see what the Sixties and Seventies counterculture was really like.

This remake of the 1976 original takes a fresh approach to one of the most shocking series of crimes in the 20th Century, not shocking for the gratuitous and horrific murders of totally innocent people, but for the way the three female perpetrators - Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten – danced to the tune of the Devil, the one who called himself Jesus Christ.Of course, the idea that Manson "brainwashed" these women and his other followers is a pathetic excuse, as though there is no such thing as free will. The same can be said of the witchfinders, the Communists, the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge, the Provisional IRA, and today the Islamist terrorists who given the chance would murder us in our beds.Marguerite Moreau shines as the demonically evil Susan Atkins, who did not look quite so evil in 2002 when she was interviewed by Dianne Sawyer, and even less so seven years later when after having her left leg amputated and suffering from brain cancer she was denied compassionate release. Incredibly, Atkins married twice while serving her sentence, and for some time was even permitted conjugal visits. This film ends though with the trial and a brief mention of the conviction of the Manson "Family". Although this is a fictionalised account and contains some poetic licence, it is also an historical document. The horrific murder scenes are shown in this context rather than the usual one of entertainment/special effects. Also excellent is Jeremy Davies as Manson; the actor was born two months almost to the day after the murder of Sharon Tate. And in California.Although a film of this nature will inevitably attract some criticism, no one can in all sincerity accuse this of being either squalid sensationalism or the glamorisation of evil. It is important that films of this nature are made if only to remind us that there are monsters out there, and that all too often they look like us.

After seeing the 1976 version of HELTER SKELTER directed by Tom Gries, which focuses more on the investigation and trial of the Manson "family" than on the crimes themselves, I thought "It would be interesting if someone made a film which focuses on the 'family' rather than the prosecutor and actually dramatizes out the murders." That's exactly what John Gray did here. HELTER SKELTER (2004) provides an in-depth look at the Manson "family," using Linda Kasabian as a frequent focal point. It also gives some illustration of the wacko theories that Manson and certain of his followers developed in order to justify the Hinman, Tate, LaBianca, and other murders, shows the crimes themselves in front-story (rather than the brief flashbacks the '76 film showed), along with giving a new perspective on the trials and aftermaths.I've noticed some complaints that certain details of the crimes, as well as Manson's whole "Helter Skelter" theory, were misrepresented or missed altogether. As one of many long-time obsessives with the Manson murders, I can only say that the creators of this film really strove to be as accurate as possible, right up to details such as a bloody towel inadvertently landing on Jay Sebring's face and being interpreted as a symbolic "hood." It would be well-nigh impossible to capture every detail (some of which are not terribly important for our purposes today) of the murders or to explain/reveal all the justifications (which are themselves subject to disagreement) that the "family" used for committing these horrible acts. This being a drama rather than a documentary, too much analysis of Manson's motives would become quite ponderous after a while.That being said, there ARE one or two rather vague, fluffy scenes. I also read a comment somewhere by former Manson associate Bobby Beausoleil, still incarcerated for the Hinman murder, who, after watching this film, stated something to the effect that, had Manson been anywhere near as obvious a megalomaniacal creep as the one shown in this film, none of his "family" would ever have had anything to do with him. A fair statement, but again, perfectly capturing Manson's personality and his interactions with his accomplices would be virtually impossible.All things considered, this was a very hard and complicated story to pack into 137 DVD minutes, and the creators did a commendable job of choosing what/what-not to show. The acting by virtually all the major players here is quite good, often outstanding. I also like the way that the police, Bugliosi, and the other prosecutors are not represented as the completely squeaky-clean paragons of virtue that they were in the '76 HELTER SKELTER. There will always be those who are dissatisfied with how certain actual people and events are portrayed, especially when it comes to people they actually knew (or were) and events in which they actually took part. Some oversimplication is inevitable. But I repeat, it would be hard to recreate the Helter Skelter murders with a higher degree of accuracy than this film does, and anyone with the remotest interest should find HELTER SKELTER (04) fascinating.

I am about to watch it again, for the third time. Just finished Paul Watkin's "My Life With Charles Manson" book for the third or fourth time. I have a few books on the "subject". My brother and I "met" Charlie just about the time of the murder(s). We were poking around his abandonded heap of stolen V.W. bodies at Spahn when he ran at us, gun in hand, spewing obscenities I had never heard before. ("love" was not among them). He was mad at us 'cause we were going to steal parts from the cars he stole! I think it was after the murders but before the raid on Spahns. I lived over the hills in Thousand Oaks. At any rate, the movie is lame. What irritated me the most was Charlie's dialog was in a whisper. He just whispered. Weird. Oh, sure, when he was yelling he was just upset over something major, like somebody asking him a question he couldn't answer. I'd be "mad" too! If you are a Manson collector (not a fan) you need this movie. Summary: Charlie knew not a thing about love. He grew up (until his release in '67) in prison and love was not there. He learned from the best how to con people, assume roles and intimidate. There was/is nothing good about the "scruffy little guru". Until he tells why (the real motive) these senseless killings occurred and apologizes, he is nothing. "Jesus"? Hmmm. "The Devil"? He isn't even good at that.Some "expert" claim he is very intelligent. How? Couldn't hold a job, a terribly stupid thief, no ear for music, yet, continued on trying to be a rock star. His only fans/followers are probably a bunch of Goth-Dressing spoiled kids that probably still live in their parent's basement anyway. [email protected]