Helter Skelter (Director's Cut)

Helter Skelter (Director's Cut)
by John Gray

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Category: DVD
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DVD details

Actor: Allison Smith, Clea DuVall, Eric Dane, Frank Zieger, Jeremy Davies
Director: John Gray
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Don E. FauntLeRoy
Writer: John Gray
Producer: Mark Wolper
Producer: Peter Miller
Producer: Vincent Bugliosi
Writer: Vincent Bugliosi
Writer: Curt Gentry
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 137 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-19
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of Helter Skelter (Director's Cut)

DVD Review: Helter,with a touch of Skelter
Summary: 5 Stars

I found myself liking this better than first TV movie of"Helter Skelter", this was unrated making it more telling than the first one & even like it better than the movie "The Manson Family".Worth a few more times to watching.

DVD Review: Helter Skelter -- other alternatives
Summary: 3 Stars

This is a decent depiction of events, but I would recommend the 1976 version of Helter Skelter. Despite both being television movies, the more documentary-like 1976 version seems to have more energy. I also prefer Railsback's portrayal of Manson. For a Manson family perspective, try The Manson Family (Unrated 2-Disc Special Edition).

DVD Review: ok but liked the 76 version better
Summary: 3 Stars

The 1976 version felt more authentic because it was filmed not long after the actual hearings etc. It just had that 70's look and feel which made it more intersting. I also found the Charles Manson character in this movie a bit goofey at times. This movie is worth watching as it focuses more on the crimes and compliments the original.

DVD Review: Get the original version
Summary: 2 Stars

To save writing and get to the point, the 1976 version with Steve Railsback is superior. It was much more accurate, the macabre atmosphere was superb, the less-bloody effect was more frightening (much more like Hitchcock would've done), and Railsback as Manson was the most chilling portrayal by any actor I've ever seen. He could almost have been mistaken for Charley, even had that maddened 'shine' in his eye. Incredibly creepy. The 2004 version is worth seeing, but the 1976 version is worth having.

DVD Review: Interesting and insightful
Summary: 5 Stars

I thought this movie was great! You learn about what the Manson family did from their point of view. The details were interesting because they told you what had happened during the murders and how Manson became more demanding from his followers. This movies shows how the family started down their road of destruction. Nothing like the book or previous movie which was from Bugliosi's notes. This movie is solely from the Manson family and Krenwrinkle's perspective. Very interesting, well made (the acting is exceptional)and surprisingly the movie showed what had happened on those gruesome nights.

Description of Helter Skelter (Director's Cut)

Jeremy Davies stars as convicted killer Charles Manson in this new television movie based on the true story of the August 1969 Tate/LaBianca murders, as chronicled in the bestselling book Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. Almost 35 years ago Manson's followers, at his instruction, brutally massacred seven people over two consecutive nights in Los Angeles and scrawled bloody messages on the walls of the crime scenes. The first night, director Roman Polanski's wife, eight-month-pregnant actress Sharon Tate, was murdered along with coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Voytek Frykowski and Steven Parent. The second night, supermarket chain president Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were found stabbed to death in their home.

Solid performances are the high point of this 2004 adaptation of L.A. prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's book about Charles Manson's Family, the Tate-La Bianca murders, and the subsequent trial that caught the world's attention in 1969. While the 1976 TV movie focused mainly on Bugliosi (here played by Bruno Kirby), writer-director John Gray turns his film's attention to cult member Linda Kasabian (a typically fine Clea DuVall), who eventually testified against Manson (a mannered Jeremy Davies) and his followers after they were arrested for several brutal murders, including actress Sharon Tate. Gray gets chilling turns from Allison Smith, Marguerite Moreau, and Mary Lynn Rajskub as "Manson Girls" Patricia Krenwinkle, Susan Atkins, and Squeaky Fromme, respectively, and the production is atmospherically photographed, but the dialogue is often ham-fisted, and rushes to an all-too-early conclusion (midway through the trial). The DVD offers the 180-minute film in a 1:78:1 anamorphic transfer, and includes a brace of deleted scenes (including some violent moments cut for TV broadcast), commentary by Gray and executive producer Mark L. Wolper, and footage of Davies in rehearsal. --Paul Gaita

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