HELTER SKELTOR
Directors Cut

Released: Oct. 26th, 2004
Amazon Price: $17.98
MSRP Price: $19.98 
Costco Price: NA\

Helter Skelter Rating - A

137 Minutes. 
Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen: Anamorphic

STARS: Jeremy Davis, Clea Duvall & Bruno Kirby

Helter Skelter follows the novel which is co-written by Prosecuter Vincent Bugliosi. Bugliosi is also the source for the 1976 film which centered around Charles Manson.  

This new director's cut of the film includes some explicit material but adds little to the quality of the film. Jeremy Davis is outstanding as Charles Manson and Clea Duvall is becoming one of my favorite actresses. She's does well with her part. 

This took place when I was just a child and for some reason I remember bits and pieces from that time. It was a film I found hard to sit through knowing that what you saw really happened. That this sick individual is a real person who could actually recruit others to do his bidding without any real effort. My God! We stuck this asshole in jail for life with a chance of parole rather than cooking his sick as six way to Sunday. Makes me shiver just to think about the atrocities this... animal is guilty of.

Manson had a way of playing with the youths minds and turning their needs to him. They followed him unconditionally doing whatever this man simply asked of them.

This film brought all those horrific feelings back with utter ease. You could see and feel the evil this man carries inside him. Helter Skelter is an absorbing telefilm about the wacko-nutjob. There are other sick bastards since the 60's when this guy went on his killing spree, but for some reason he's the number one butt-wipe for me. 

PACKAGING: 
Warner Bros. offers the DVD in the standard DVD package - black plastic case with photo insert. The insert is an intriguing and piercing stare that can make you look away. The director's cut does not include an insert with what scenes have been added back into the film. 

VIDEO: 
The video quality is excellent. Video color is vibrant and sharp. The detail is sharp and the contrast is excellent. Gotta love it. 

AUDIO: 
The Dolby Digital 5.1 really rocked during the opening credits. The film is more drama and horror than anything else making the 5.1 digital a waste. But the voices and music were sharp. Excellent soundtrack that ads to the feel of the film.

BONUS FEATURES: 
The only real bonus feature is commentary from the films director John Gray.

SUMMARY: 
This is a really good film. I believe this will be a hard film to watch for some of the older generation who remember this insane asshole. It's a good film. Quality acting and good direction... a quality film to say the least.

Helter Skelter Rating: A - for the lack of a 5.1 mix it could have used and no extras from the shows stars that would have been important to many fans. These guys aren't getting any younger. 

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