Six Degrees Of Helter Skelter (2009)

 Six Degrees Of Helter Skelter (2009)

This next film is a documentary, and in the case of Six Degrees Of Helter Skelter, a documentary can definitely qualify as a horror film.  Charlie Manson and his "family"  have fascinated and horrified the public since they were committed in 1969.  Some say that the murders committed by the Manson Family were the death to the hippies, and in many ways a death to American innocence.   Before their home invasions and murders of Tate and Labianca families America was a place where people regularly left their doors unlocked at night, and lived with an element of ignorance to the evil that lived within their own communities.  This documentary takes a look at not only the brutal murders, but also at the locations, the people, the connections, and the forensic evidence of the cases, and also takes a deep look at the Manson Family, and some of their other crimes.   The film debunks some commonly held beliefs about the case, and also presents lesser known facts and evidence about things surrounding the case.  For example it is amazing, how many celebrities were within a few degrees separation from the Manson family.  

Six Degree Of Helter Skelter was written and produced by Mike Dorsey and Scott Michaels.  Dorsey also directed the film.  The film was produced by Not A Hollywood Sign Production and Tenacity Entertainment, and distributed by Mance Media, Eco Bridget Home Entertainment, and Not A Hollywood Sign Productions in 2009.  

Six Degrees Of Helter Skelter is narrated by co-writer Scott Michaels, who also appears on camera throughout the documentary.  The film uses still photographs, archived footage, interviews, and actually explores most of the locations associated with the murders as they appear today.   This documentary goes beyond just telling you all of the facts that you already know from books and films like Helter Skelter, but takes a deeper look at how deep the connections to the people and the places that the Manson Family has ties to.   The film is presented, not so much as a disconnected voice over narration as many documentaries have, and feels more like an intimate conversation with Scott Michaels, who is someone very interested in the case of the Tate/Labianca murders, and rather than just droning out information, he has a natural delivery, that makes it feel much more intimate and natural.   The overall production too, doesn't have the feel of a documentary that is just giving information, this documentary is produced in a way, that feels much more personal.   This might be due in part to Michaels also running Hollywood tours, as he is very comfortable just talking to his audience.

I will be honest true crime documentaries like this make me feel quite uncomfortable, and I feel like that is the reaction that we should have when we are learning about something a brutal and disturbing as these murders were.  Some of the things that I found disturbing were the fact that Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, actually rented Sharon Tate's house before it was torn down, he recorded an album there, but he supposedly also took the front door with the word "PIG" written in her blood on it with him when he left.   I find the idea of living in a place where such a horrific event happened an uncomfortable thought.  Mass murderers and serial killers are fascinating, subjects of films and music, like I absolutely love the album Sinister Slaughter by the metal band Macabre, but to actually live in a place where a brutal murder took place, isn't something that I think I could be comfortable with.  These murders were especially horrific, and to hear the details of what the Manson Family did to their victims was quite unnerving.   If this kind of thing is something that you are fascinated by and interested in I do highly suggest checking out The Six Degrees Of Helter Skelter, this documentary takes an interesting look at the murders and the people involved.  

If you haven't seen this documentary, I highly recommend it.  I found the information presented quite fascinating, and I love the connections that the film makes, and it takes a look at much more than just the case itself but also at things that a several degrees from the case, to show the connections, and how what happened affected more than just the people murdered and their families.  The film also features some of the music that Charlie Manson and his "Family" recorded, and takes a look at the connections between Manson and the Beach Boys, and many other musicians and actors, and also the connection that the Whiskey A Go Go club has to both Manson and the victims.  Seriously the way that Scott Michaels draws the connections is absolutely fascinating.   The Tate/Labianca murders committed by the Manson Family forever changed Hollywood, and the world, and maybe they never brought about the race war that they believed they would bring about, but they still impacted the world.  Now when we hear a silly song by the Beatles about an amusement park slide, the first thing that pops into our mind when we hear Helter Skelter is the brutal slayings of the Manson Family.   

Though the most brutal of the murders were not committed by Charlie Manson, the fact that he was charismatic enough to get a clan of young women followers to willingly commit theise brutal acts is something that I find very fascinating.  Cults are fascinating, the fact that some people can have such a high charisma to exert such a powerful control over others, is amazing to me.  I might love horror films, but in real life I find it so disturbing that anyone could commit acts like those done by the Manson Family.  When people say that there is no evil in the world, I don't believe them, when there are people like Charlie Manson on this planet, I believe that proves that there is an existence of evil. 

So yes, if you come across a copy of The Six Degrees Of Helter Skelter, I recommend checking it out.