The Helter-Skelter Murders

Description

You are there every terrifying moment as the Manson "family" commits the most hideous murders in the history of Hollywood. Filmed while the Manson trial was still in progress, this modern "noir" proved so shocking it was banned in Los Angeles. Superbly photographed and directed by award-winning filmmaker Frank Howard, with sequences actually filmed with the "family" at the Spahn Ranch. Charlie Manson performs his songs "Mechanical Man" and "Garbage Dump" on the soundtrack.

Customer Reviews:

This FILM!.......2007-06-09

First off, if you are looking for an Oliver Stone style film about the manson incident then run away, run far away. This film is amazing, the soundtrack is priceless. I am into this sort of exploitation film, it is very roughly based around the manson thing, but it does contain some amazing footage. Yes a good bit of the film has no dialogue but mysterious black and white footage of drug use, nudity and even Hitchcock style murder footage makes it a "late night" must for me. It is very over the top and slightly psychedelic, definitely makes you wish you were apart of the manson family. This one is for my collection. long live tp rainbow

Spooky Atmospherics Done in Black in White..........2007-01-03

Oh it was done in black and white booh hooo! It makes the film work! This stark realism of B/W is especially true in the murders scenes. It also gives a feeling past-tense which is how the script is set up. As for dialogue -- can you say Noir Film? Atmosphere folks, body language, reviewing minds and time-periods through narrative/scenery/cinemaphotograpy, all done well. The lighting could have been better in the beginning but gets better towards the middle. This movie is very dark and moody and quite frankly more than I expected. I think this is the rub with some of the other reviewers on here, they wanted the Docudrama - Helter Skelter - and got another film instead. That isn't a valid reason to low rate a flick. Quite Frankly this film "takes you there" to the crime scenes, insides the killers heads and the victims suffering, an empathic immediacy the the TV docudrama didn't achieve -- check this one out! I was actually surprised!

Bad movie, but historical footage.......2006-11-22

I bought this movie, basically knowing it would be awful and I wasn't disappointed. All the reviewers on here are right (except the two that gave it 5 stars) -it is a horrible movie. BUT, I gave it two stars.
Why, you may ask? Because I read the great book by the same name, and it was very cool to see the scene with actual footage of Spahn ranch. (burned down not long after), and to see the scene with authentic hippies.
The rest of the movie is throw away. If you want a good movie, don't buy this. If you loved the book, or are very interested in the Manson trial/family and want to see footage of Spahn ranch, here it is. Be warned - you'll get five or ten minutes of hippie/Spahn ranch footage.

Piece of crap.......2005-05-08

I bought this movie thinking it would be an enlightening and interesting account of the Manson family and the murders. It was TERRIBLE! It was all in black and white, with barely any dialogue. Manson and his family were depicted as zombies reminiscent of "Night of the living dead". I actually fast forwarded through most of this movie hoping to find a scene worth watching. Don't waste your money! I wish I hadn't.

Don't Waste Your Money.......2003-12-24

This movie was an unrealistic portrayal of the Tate La Bianca murders that occured in August, 1969. If you want the real version buy the 1976 Helter Skelter if you can find it. It is obsolete.

Don't waste your time or money watching this movie. The guy who portrays Manson has a booming voice and Charles Mansion did not. "I am God, I am Satan, I am you, and you are me."

DVD:

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