...Truth has not special time of its own. Its hour is now — always and indeed then most truly when it seems unsuitable to actual circumstances. (Albert Schweitzer).....the truth about these murders has not been uncovered, but we believe the time for the truth is now. Join us, won't you?
Page 13 Snake's mom gives her to Charlie, complete with signature. Oh snap. Another Montage. All the girls on the bus as Snake tries desperately to explain them all in one paragraph. Katie tried to be a nun. Squeaky's dad was a rocket scientist? Yeller looked like Greta Garbo? Sandy was snooty. Sadie was a brat.
The Charlie sings Garbage Dump over a montage of Family dumpster diving, car washing (?) and candy eating. Montage central this thing.
Then Sharon has her first date with Roman. Calls him Mr. Polanski. Uh huh.
Mary gives birth to Pooh Bear. Lots of joint smoking and screaming. This ends with Snake biting through the cord and tying it off with the guitar string. So much for any sort of accuracy Kosar.
I'm sorry. I am gonna stop on Page 21 after this quote- Snake I was called "Snake" because snakes were super-aware of everything and Charlie said I was very aware for someone so young.
In the comments I would like all real scholars to tell us why this is BULLSHIT!
Screenplay is called THE FAMILY by Scott Kosar based on the book by Ed Sanders. Not sure why since it IS NOTHING like the book.
Screenplay is the FOURTH Draft, most easily available to this reviewer.
No date is available.
First scene is with Dianne Lake in Death Valley in 69, telling us she had some friends but they changed. Then we see Tex driving the girls in the car a few minutes after the Cielo slaughter. Next we slam cut to the HOG FARM where Dianne is 13 ( can you imagine the casting?) and watches her mother screw on the floor.
We're only on page 3 before Kosar decides to let logic lapse completely. You see Dianne goes out on her bicycle from the Hog Farm, in Sunland, and arrives at the dumpster in Topanga where Mary, Katie and Squeaky (he actually has someone call her SQUEAKS- this was of course NEVER done) are diving for chocolate bars (when in fact it was always for veggies). And Dianne has a magic bicycle because of course there's fucking 38 miles between Sunland and Topanga and she isn't even sweating.
Now the Col always thinks montages in the middle of films are lame but Kosar starts his on page fucking 4. A series of vignettes where we meet all the main girls (and Yeller?) who all tell Snake what a great lover Charlie is. Dianne stuffs her bra and hitches to ... The Spiral Staircase where the Family is crashing. WTF? It was a club. Mary and Sandy grab Snake (who is called this even though she hasn't met Charlie yet, who gives her her nickname)
More meeting girls like Cappy. Then Charlie on a bus. He notices her stuffed bra, and then owns her ass.
That's through PAGE 13. Not nearly as bad as Wyman's garbage, but again, Dianne Lake, go get lawyers now! Your lawsuit is guaranteed a home run!
More to Come! Scott looks over us from the photo above, asking why we would question his fictions and lies!
Heat is building on Scott (The Machinist) Kosar's script for The Family, his long-gestating project about Charles Mason.
Ryan Kwanten told the press recently that he is going to star and that appears to be true, however, a journalist misconstrued something Kwanten said about Brad Anderson directing. And that's false.
"First off, my good friend and idol Brad has nothing to do with this film," Kosar tells Shock Till You Drop exclusively. "I will be making my directorial debut from a script I wrote. The movie won't focus on the Manson murders. Nor is it a Manson biopic. It's a family biopic. A movie about a surrogate family of wayward teenagers who, through extraordinary circumstances, came together and were transformed into the most notorious American family of the 20th century. Hence the title."
Kosar elaborates his film with explore the family unit. "A very unconventional unit, but a family nonetheless. It is not a horror film, though the subject is inherently horrific. The goal is to do, finally, after forty years, the first authentic film about the so-called Manson Family. Unlike other films on the subject, The Family will also spend time getting to know the victims, particularly Sharon Tate, who will be portrayed very sympathetically. I don't think a responsible movie can be made about this subject without humanizing the victims, which must be done in order to truly convey - as much as a film is able to - the enormity of the tragedy. This won't be a slasher film, but it won't gloss over the violence either. It's a film about an American taboo that has never been dramatized with any balance or accuracy. Bugliosi-based films accurately deal with the prosecution of "the Family." My film will concern the family itself. Who they were and what their lives were like with Manson."
Interesting stuff. Of course, we've seen plenty of Manson films come down the track over the last few decades - some good, some bad. The Family should certainly deliver something unique given Kosar's time developing and researching the script.
------------------- And now the interpretation-
Jesus websites can be so ass kissing can't they?
1- There's no heat just because a TV actor said he was playing Charlie. An Australian actor btw. There's no heat at all. 2- The TV actor doesn't even know who is directing the alleged goddamn film. He mentioned a real director named Brad Anderson. But it is Scott Kosar, who has never even directed traffic. 3- He mentions Bugliosi as truthful, thus killing any chance of this being any use to anyone.
Like I said, the Col is finally examining this screenplay and will share his comments with you. But I tell you this much- it features DIANNE SNAKE LAKE as the centerpiece of the action. This means - It's bullshit - Miss Lake's lawyers can have a field day since she isn't a public figure and certainly didn't authorize the film.
Scott Kosar will make his directorial debut on "The Family," an indie drama focusing on the wayward teens who became the Manson Family.
Ryan Kwanten ("True Blood") will play Charles Manson, who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders in 1969. Nicholas Simon ("City of Ghosts") will produce with The Gotham Group. Production's expected to be in Los Angeles next summer.
Kosar's adapted Ed Saunders book "The Family" and emphasized that the pic won't focus on the Manson murders, nor is it a Manson biopic but rather with the Manson Family as a unit.
"It is not a horror film, though the subject is inherently horrific," said Kosar, who stressed that the story foocuses on the victims, particularly Sharon Tate.
"I don't think a responsible movie can be made about this subject without humanizing the victims, which must be done in order to truly convey (as much as a film is able to) the enormity of the tragedy," he added. "This won't be a slasher film, but it won't gloss over the violence either."
Kosar's scripting credits include "The Machinist," "The Amityville Horror" and "The Crazies."
News of Kosar's directing attachment and Kwanten's signing was first reported on the Shocktillyoudrop.com site.
Okay, now this is some bullshit right here. What happened was a not bright television actor spoke up about possibly doing a film. If you read the article closely, who is paying for this film starring a supporting TV actor? No one. Who is distributing this film? No one. Wait, what about the Gotham Group, they are mentioned! Nope, they are a low level management company that represents animators (!) and seemingly this Kosar chap. They don't finance films.
But then this Kosar guy is a major director right? Nope, never directed a film before in his life. He wrote the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake, which is something he should be ashamed of, not boasting.
Do some googling and you'll see that Fangoria announced this sure to be crapfest back in 2002. AT BEST this article is wishful thinking.
But what it did do is prompt the Col to track down this screenplay. Maybe it would be better that the Brad Wyman shitfest which featured Nancy Pitman as a hell of a nice girl. The film that ALSO never came out.
We'll examine the screenplay over the next few days.
Why no postings from the Col for almost a whole month?
Been in hiding, plotting my next move.
Take a beat and catch up with me okay?
If you click on my links to the right, you'll see something called "The Best Damned Manson Site on The Web."
This goes no where now. It once went to a site that was a cornucopia of riches. Not stolen shit like that Helter Skelter group. Real research. Real material.
It was run by BretG and it was the envy of all of us who search for the truth.
BretG outed Clem/Steve Grogan as Adam Gabriel, member of a San Fran band who played children parties. Bret, knowing that Clem has yet to be prosecuted for the LaBianca killings, revealed his true identity.
And then the site went down.
So I spent October astral traveling to Iceland. And I discovered that Bret's dead. It appears to be natural causes. Unless Clem has magic powers like Charlie had, beyond watch stopping.
So now we know for sure.
Sigh.
Back to the work. We'll have a lot of posts to make up for in the coming days.
Truth on Tate LaBianca may have a few dried up old law and order farts (hi Dillagf) and I still need to find out what went wrong with EvilLiz, but it is the single best TLB site currently on the web since Bret went Wit Pro. And Cats who runs it is a fellow warrior in the fight for TLB truth- I love this broad!
There is this other site that basically steals from other people. It is called the Helter Skelter Forum. I am on there under a couple of nom de plumes because they wouldn't let the genius Col on board to run rings around them. They steal from Cats, from Cielo Drive 69. There are self hating gay dudes on there stealing, some psycho twat named Martine and the owner who may or may not be a dude.
The owner recently put this notice up I wanted to share with you. Because it is fucking funny. I am not even sure the owner is from the US so I am not sure why they are getting so butthurt and quoting US copyright laws. But boy it is fucking funny. I am watching you- the paranoid ramblings of the guilty. I mean, you know how crooks always scream the loudest.
I am off to file some DMCA notices just for shits and giggles.
You know it's hard enough to find the truth out there without dilettantes, homophobes and liars forming their own school club to promote their fiction. You would think the lesson of JimNY, aka Savage, sitting in a rubber bed of his own spew would be a lesson to those who cross the Col's quest for facts. But apparently not.
Last night I was directed to the new "Helter Skelter Forum" by some of you who were alarmed at their rampant thievery from other sites. I didn't know from theft, and I am a Col not a judge, so I thought "Hey, a new site." I joined. Easy enough. (by the way guys, just so you know, the last site I joined that banned me, repeatedly mind you, was the Yahoo KTS site and it is now a pathetic, limping wad of goo. Just saying, laugh all you want, but you're next.)
So I clicked on some places and here is what I saw and posted.
First, they have the nerve to say "Give us credit" when in fact they steal from other sites without credit. That kind of set the tone. Go look at the Gary Hinman autopsy material they stole from Truth on Tate LaBianca. Cropping materials doesn't mean it is "yours". So I very nicely mentioned this in a posting, like "Hey how can you say one thing and do another." Fine.
Then I came upon this thread, where this chick Martine is offering to ask the BUG questions. Now there is only one question to ask the Bug- how can you live with yourself when you convicted people based on motives you know are lies? But no one is asking that. It's like "What KIND of Latin Music do you like BUG?" Okay I exaggerate but not much. In this thread they argue about whether the BUG beat up his mistress and stalked his milkman thinking he was the father of BUG Jr. I respond to several of the sillier comments, calling them nonsense. I am extremely polite for me, not calling them liars and stupid idiots, which of course they were.
Then the clincher- there is this huge thread where they discuss Steve Parent's homosexuality. There is this one extreme homophobe, Silver, who refuses to accept the reality that the kid was gay. It's 2010 and he is still hating on Steve, while trolling alleyways his own self, no doubt. Then there is this guy eddy, the ugly, lonely gay guy who wants everyone to know he has special information (Did you chug one off with Steve back in the day, grandpa?) about Steve. Some moron says there was no semen so Steve and Garretson never copulated (umm, swallowing?) and this goes on for pages. Some super cretin says "does it matter whether the BUG did it or Steve was?" and I point out that it matters very much why a victim was at the house and that the prosecutor is known for psycho behavior before and after the trial.
I swear I am modulated, considering what these shitbirds are doing, stealing, banning and generally making shit up.
So this morning I am banned, as if the truth can ever be banned. Since I have four other accounts, I am able to read this from the self hating gay guy eddy-
This pillock joined the forum in the early hours and spent nine posts bitching, making obnoxious comments to some of you and trying to discredit the forum in any way he knew how. Accused us of stealing from another forum (a forum several of us were banned from) and subsequently he didn't get any further. So I imagine he'll write a 'scathing' review of this forum at his blog. So if he does, you'll know why he didn't last in here.
Amazing. First I have to look up pillock. It means penis in uneducated British street slang. For a thief it isn't surprising that he is of the street. A gay guy calling other men penis? Wish fulfillment I suppose.
And because you were banned for abuse at another forum you would never steal from them? Or you blatantly steal from them in misguided revenge? Obvious to me.
So what do we know? SJ, who uses the photo of Abigail as a photo, is Jasonwarmes or something. He was Moonglow on Cat's forum until he left to start his own and steal everything from Cat without crediting. Morning Glory, the main thief of materials, was called Lady Noel before it put the lotion in the basket or else it gets the hose.
So does it matter in the end if some sad refugees from the truth started their own island of misinformation? Yes and no. If they are willing to ban and lie and steal they need to be monitored which I shall do through the other accounts including one they think is a close friend. But they disgust me even more because they refer to the Col's research throughout even reprinting whole posts but don't link back. They stole the entirety of Claire Watkins post on Granta and don't link back. Then they claim they give credit and want it in return.
eddy I am not a penis, though you can SUCK ME. You're a fraud who can't even accept who he is. But the Col knows who you all are and now, so do all true TLB scholars.
Here's a photo I haven't seen before. It's Ron Hughes. He looks happy, even though his sartorial sensibilities are severely infected. He needs a shave. He is raising his fist in some sort of power salute which was stupid even then (Slippy Power?). He has Kanarek by his side. Kanarek doesn't look like the homeless troll last seen a few years ago on some TV Special. The guy whose storage locker was supposedly sold at auction to constitute the "Railroading" book.
And as the Col says, there's no show without Punch and there's the BUG in the back, lurking and seeming smug, wondering if the milkman really fucked his wife or not.
Also, if you made me bet, Hughes either just had a toke or was about to try one out.
Some short time later the poor guy drowned in Sespe Springs. We established that it wasn't a murder here. Also if you can find the newest version of Sanders, he says he drowned in the flash flood.
It makes me wonder what the defense attorneys were thinking. Like Fitzgerald seemed like a smart cat- he had to know that all of them were busted and you should plead. They all acted like it was theatre- all of them. And that is hard for me to fathom.
Sources and information agree that Sharon wasn't thought to be at Cielo that night. So there is no connection to the motive. Woman just was at the wrong place and the very wrong time.
Same with Parent. Whether he serviced Garrettson or got serviced by him (ummm I mean "tried to sell him a stolen clock radio") Tex and the gals certainly had no idea that he was up there. So wrong place, wrong time again.
I don't think they were after Jay. If they were, the motives include 1- Drugs 2- Drugs 3- Bad Haircuts 4- Tied up Naked Women (his thing) 5- Drugs
Examined in order 1- He used a lot of them 2- They were sold through the salons 3- Have you seen these things? 4- Could he have pissed off the wrong husband? 5-Did he have some drug connection to Tex who worked in a fully equipped Salon at one point?
Then we have Voytek. The motivations there include- 1- Drugs 2- Drugs 3- Polish Mafia 4- Drugs
Examined in Order 1- Did he sell bad ones? 2- Did he steal some? 3- Did I make this up? 4- Did he step on the wrong toes?
Now let's look at Abilgail 1- Drugs 2- Money and lots of it 3- Social Activism 4- The Coffee Wars 5- Drugs
And Examined in order 1- Doesn't seem like she did much more than smoke some weed. But her BF was a heavy duty user and dealer which brings this motivation into the equation. 2- Girlfriend was rich as hell, a bona fide heiress for god's sake. Who benefited by her death? Lt. Columbo would look into that. 3- She seemed to be ahead of the curve as far as equal rights and shit, at least by what we are told. Did the Establishment have a problem with this? 4- Goddamn Starbucks! 5- She supposedly worked at centers to help people get off Drugs. Did she meet a maniac or two there?
Looking at this all closely we have- A- Lots of Drugs- which is the probably connection to everything if the killer knew Melcher was gone. But I don't think they DID know. B- A big mess- why kill people for no reason, Tex you fucking animal!
Here's a newly uncovered photo of Abigail. It is lovely.
Adam GoRightly (not his real name anymore than Adam Gabriel is Clem's real name) is a poseur. He is one of these guys that fakes living on the edge. There's the other guy Brian Butler who is the same thing. Brian once interviewed Bobby and then tried to charge people to watch the interview- without Bobby's permission or knowledge. They are counter culture groupies.
Adam's first book on Manson was called THE SHADOW OVER SANTA SUSANNA PASS ROAD. Also known us "I read a lot of books and now I regurgitate them, look how slick I am." He promoted that book with a message board that he used to ban the Col from because the Col knows more than he does. I think the Col is even mentioned in one of the Chapters. Because when you are vomiting up information, somehow the Col matters to your readers.
Anyway he just published a new book. It is not actually published so no trees died for this shit. It is called A WHO'S WHO OF THE MANSON FAMILY. You can waste your money for it HERE. It is only digital because that is what all the cool kids are using these days.
Never mind that fact that the entries on The Family are more thorough on CieloDrive.com or even the evil Mark Turner's site. FOR FREE. Or that you can learn 100 times more on Cat's site- this fucker only includes "Family" so he doesn't even address scores of other TLB subjects. Let me just give you three random reasons why this fucking just sucks it.
1- Mary Brunner is followed by Charlene Cafritz. Mary is THE founding member of The Family and the mother of Charlie's son. Cafritz is some society psycho who maybe visited the Ranch. Cafritz gets a longer entry than Mary. Fuck off Adam.
2- "Bernard Crowe lived at 7008 Woodrow Wilson Drive near Sunset"- I mean, douche, Sunset is actually miles (plural) from this house. Ever hear of Google Earth? You barely write anything in this book anyway shouldn't it be ACCURATE? Take five minutes and check the fucking map, ADAM!
3- "Haught's life was snuffed out and he truly became a Zero"- I mean fuck you sideways Adam- hard. You don't get to sound like Hunter S. Thompson or even sucky Ed Sanders without being talented and you aren't.
Book Report- Dear Class- this book could have and should have been so much more but GoRightly is just after your money. Stay the fuck away.
[[PHOTO: Adam GoRightly, the douche on the left, discusses why looking like a leftover large ass Seventies Porno Extra is a good idea]]
To be fair, I think the original Helter Skelter miniseries is brilliant. It started the Col's obsession and fascination with this crazy world of TLB. Sure it is full of shit just like the book- but so riveting! DiCenzo was brilliant as the BUG. Smug, self important and pompous he really conveyed the BUG of the novel. There's two moments in the miniseries where he turns and breaks the fourth wall and looks at us- when he joins the case and when he ends the show. Chilling and wonderful. RIP George. Thanks to AB for pointing this out. Oh, btw he died August 9, althought not in Los Feliz.
Character actor George DiCenzo,who portrayed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in "Helter Skelter," died Aug. 9 in Newtown, Pa. He was 70 and had been in failing health since a near-fatal accident a few years back.
He toplined as the author of the book, Bugliosi, in the 1976 telepic on investigation and trial of cult killer Charles Manson.
Thesp, who attended the Yale School of Drama, led a career that spanned more than three decades.
DiCenzo appeared in series, including "Gunsmoke," "The Waltons," "Hawaii Five-O," "Police Story," and "NYPD Blue."
In pics he was featured in pics such as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Back to the Future," and "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," which was his last outing.
He also did voiceover for toons "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," "Animaniacs" and "Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven," among others.
In 1992, DiCenzo appeared with Nathan Lane in the Broadway production of George C. Scott-helmed "On Borrowed Time."
In addition to acting, DiCenzo's voice could be heard on numerous commercials and in later years, he was an acting instructor in New York and Philadelphia.
Survivors include wife, Donna, a son, three grandchildren and a sister.
Donations may be made in his name to to a Woman's Place, P.O. Box 299, Doylestown, PA 18901.
(been busy, will try to have more for you even though there doesn't seem to actually BE very much new)
So I am more convinced than ever than ever that Linda Kasabian knows more about what happened than she is letting on. And I theorize that she maybe did NOT know when the case was happening but that she knows now. Through the trials. Through the coaching of the BUG. Through just living the lie.
Think about it. Remember we all were shocked when Bug openly coached and corrected her on Larry King last summer? How obvious and fucked up was that?
But if you are going to sell the lie, as BUG did , then you need to make sure that the liars go along with the lie. And at some point that means they need to learn the truth. Otherwise how can you avoid it?
Amirite? I mean, when you tell your mom you weren't out all night you do so fully knowing what you WERE doing.
Long time readers know I think she should have gotten the chair like the rest of them. That there isn't an honest bone in her body. But in order to be successfully DIShonest doesn't she have to know at least some of the truth?
Leslie Van Houten heads to her 19th parole hearing Tuesday, July 6. Being held for murder as part of the notorious Manson Family’s grisly Tate La Bianca Killings in August of 1969, Van Houten has been denied parole 18 times.
After the California Death Penalty was overturned and death sentences were commuted to life, Van Houten a devout Manson follower found herself in the California Institution for Women in Chino, while Charlie and several others reside in Northern California prisons.
Parole didn’t bode well for any of the family.
Patricia “Katie” Krenwinkel keeps company at the Chino Women center, as well and was last denied parole for the 11th time in 2008.
Calling his cell at Corcoran State Prison home, Charlie won’t have a peek at parole again until 2012. He was last denied in 2007 for the 11th time.
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme faced life for an assignation attempt on President Gerald Ford, but was released August of last year. Squeaky was involved but not charged in the Family's 1972 Stockton murders in the house on Flora St.
Susan “Sadie Mae” Atkins died from a brain tumor serving her life sentence in the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, at the age of 61. Her request for parole one year prior to her death, due to her debilitated state and paralysis was unanimously denied. Being denied parole 18 times, she holds the honor of longest incarcerated female in California’s history.
Linda Kasabian escaped imprisonment as a witness for the prosecution turning state’s evidence for immunity.
Convicted of seven counts of murder one and one count of conspiracy, Charles “Tex” Watson waits for his 14th parole hearing in December 2011, at Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California.
Serving two life sentences at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo for the Hinman and “Shorty” Shea murders, Bruce Davis was granted parole by the Board in January of this year. The decision was overturned by Governor Schwarzenegger last week. He will again be eligible in 2011.
A convicted killer described as a top assistant to mass murderer Charles Manson has had his parole recommendation denied by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Bruce Davis, 67, imprisoned for the 1969 killings of musician Gary Hinman and ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea, was recommended for parole in January by a two-member Board of Prison Terms panel.
But in a letter released Monday, Schwarzenegger reversed the decision. "I believe his release would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society at this time," the governor wrote, pointing out the gruesome nature of the crimes. "The first-degree murders for which Davis was convicted were especially heinous because both victims were abused, tortured and mutilated."
Davis did not participate in the 1969 Manson family murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others. Nonetheless, he "occupied a major role in the Manson family hierarchy," Los Angeles District Atty. Steve Cooley said in May.
Cooley wrote Schwarzenegger in May asking that Davis not be paroled. Davis, according to Cooley, had continued to "minimize, rationalize and offer excuses" for his role in the murders.
Davis had been denied parole 25 times before the panel recommended he be released. While in prison, he became an ordained minister and earned master's degrees in philosophy and religion via a correspondence program.
Notorious Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten asks to be set free -- again
Leslie Van Houten has been behind bars for over 40 years and has asked to be released on parole 18 times, however, each time the former Manson Family member has been denied her freedom.
She is now 60-years-old and is once again asking to be set free.
Although Van Houten did not take part in the horrific 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends, she was involved in the killing of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, which occurred the night after the Benedict Canyon massacre.
According to reports, on August 10, 1969, after being driven to the couple’s home by Charles Manson, Van Houten, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, Steve Grogan and Patricia Krenwinkel entered the home.
Van Houten, along with Krenwinkel and Watson stabbed Rosemary multiple times. Van Houten is said to have then changed into the dead woman’s clothing and scavenged the refrigerator for food.
To read about the Tate and LaBianca murders and see photos regarding the brutal slayings, click here.
The Pasadena Star News reports that officials at the California Institution for Women in Riverside County describe Van Houten as a model prisoner.
Susan Atkins attempted to gain her freedom for the 13th time last year, but was denied parole. She died in prison in September of brain cancer.
'Leslie, My Name Is Evil' Stars Talk Manson Cult, Suburban Culture
* May 20, 2010 * | * By: Chris Jancelewicz
Canadian films are all snow and desolation and melancholy, right? Not anymore. 'Leslie, My Name Is Evil', a pseudo-fictional feature film directed and acted by Canadians, is found somewhere opposite on the spectrum, far from where we would expect it. Focusing on the Manson Family murders and subsequent trail of the late 1960s, the movie is a dark, satirical stab at the heart of what makes America America: the nuclear family, religiousness, 'wholesome' values, and military prowess.
In his film, director Reginald Harkema (known for his zany style and outlandish hair) looks specifically at one of the Manson girls on trial, Leslie Van Houten (Kristen Hager), as she goes from straight-laced daughter to outright devotee of the Manson cult. Harkema juxtaposes her journey with that of Perry (Gregory Smith), another buttoned-down youth who's selected as a member of the jury for the trail.
At times psychedelic and at other times sobering, 'Leslie' is an interesting departure from the usual Canadian canon. Moviefone got together with Harkema, Hager, and Ryan Robbins (who adeptly captures the manic essence of Charles Manson) to talk about the making of the film, and what it was like to embody – sorta – some of the most notorious people in American history.
Reg, what inspired you to make a film like this? And about this topic?
Harkema: It was a confluence of two things: the first Pink Mountaintops' album being in heavy rotation on my turntable with the song 'Leslie' playing, and me stumbling across a first-edition copy of 'Helter Skelter' at Value Village. I thought I could make some money off of it, but then I learned that the hottest Manson chick was this Dutch Christian girl named Leslie Van Houten – who's the exact same age as my mother. Then I wondered, "How could my mother become a hippie death cult murderess?"
I guess that's all it takes.
Harkema: That sucked me into the book, and then I found this little tidbit about one of the jurors being infatuated with Leslie. I thought that was an interesting story to tell between two people who can't speak to one another.
Those courtroom scenes can be really intense. Especially Leslie's stare – it's hypnotic!
Hager: Well, thank you! I think.
Reg, did you ever balk at the subject matter, or about approaching it in this way?
Harkema: The only time I ever sort of balked was when my next-door neighbour slipped me some ketamine, and I started having an out-of-body experience. I really felt like I was being sucked into hell. 'Halloween' was also on TV. Let me tell you: never try ketamine while writing a film. [Laughs]
What sorts of reactions have you received at film screenings?
Harkema: It's divided. People love it and hate it. Someone called it the second-worst movie of the year.
Hager: Yes, I would say exactly that. People are polarized.
How much research did each of you conduct for these roles?
Hager: I did more research than I've ever done for any other role. Ever. I spent a good month essentially locking myself up in my apartment watching anything and everything on Manson and his girls. Interviews, YouTube, documentaries, books, culture... you name it. I let it sink in and that was that.
Robbins: Yeah, I'm with Kristen. I think I came on a week-and-a-half before we started filming, so I didn't have as much time to prepare. It was a cram session for me. There is a lot of Manson's audio available, so I used that. And Reg had given me this book, essentially written by Charles Manson. I was more interested in his perception of himself than other peoples' opinions of him. I mean, no one willingly follows a madman unless there's a reason. I wanted to explore the girls and Manson from other angles.
Harkema: Follow them and bed them then, Ryan! You cutie. [Laughs]
Robbins: Now, now.
Playing Manson is obviously a major role. Actors would step over one another to play him. Were you ever nervous at all about taking this on?
Robbins: I went in apprehensive, but also a little excited. Speaking with Reg, I was really confident about his approach and vision. Keep in mind, our film is more of a statement than a biopic. There was more freedom that way.
Kristen, what was it like for you to go from Red Lake, Alberta to playing a Manson follower?
Hager: [Laughs] Well, it wasn't unlike Leslie's journey from a small suburban home. Fortunately I went to theatre school and had a few other jobs in between, but hands down this is one of my favourite roles. Definitely the most challenging.
What was the hardest scene you filmed for this movie?
Hager: [Laughs] For me, that's easy. It involved a kitchen knife and some blood. From the moment I read the script, I knew the murder sequence was going to be a challenge.
What were you actually stabbing?
Hager: A cardboard box. I don't know if there was anything in it or not. The make-up lady was sitting a bit too close to the box, squirting blood into my face and eyes.
Harkema: That was actually the toughest day for me. We were shooting in the middle of November in Toronto but it was supposed to be standing in for California in August.
What about you, Ryan? What was the hardest scene for you?
Robbins: Well, day one, the first shot is me having to have sex with Kristen. [Laughs] It's like, "Hey, how you doing? I'm the second guy you have sex with! Sorry about that."
Hager: It's always like that with every job I have. Intimacy is always the first thing.
Robbins: It was especially challenging because I was strapped to a huge cross in nothing but a loincloth with naked women dancing all over the place.
Harkema: That's really tough, Ryan! [Laughs]
If you can pinpoint it, what would you say is the main message you hope to send with this movie?
Harkema: I think it's a message-less movie. Take what you can from it. The only thing I hope to get out of this movie is that a boy and a girl, a girl and a girl, or a boy and a boy will go to it on a date and get into a big fight about what it means, and then have great make-up sex.
What stood out to me as the main issue was the stubborn adherence to that nuclear family, right-wing, religious ideal. It still seems to be prevalent today, 40 years later.
Robbins: That's what I remember thinking too, when I read the script.
Harkema: Yes, we're still making the exact same mistakes. My girlfriend of 10 years is American. We go to Tennessee and have Christmas with her southern Republican father, and then the other Christmas we'll go to Olympia, Washington with her mom's family, who are all dope-smoking lesbians. So the cultural divide of America is clearly demarcated, and that's what the movie is about – about how much that still exists today.
Cooley says ex-Manson follower shouldn’t be released from prison L.A. County’s district attorney says Bruce Davis, 67, who has served 38 years in prison for the 1969 killings of a musician and a ranch hand, continues to ‘offer excuses’ for his role in the slayings.
By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
May 1, 2010
A convicted killer who has been described as mass murderer Charles Manson's "right-hand man" should not be released from prison, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley told Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday.
Bruce Davis, 67, who has served 38 years in prison for the 1969 killings of musician Gary Hinman and ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea, was recommended for release by a two-member Board of Prison Terms panel in January.
In a letter to the governor, who has the power to reverse parole recommendations, Cooley wrote that he believes that Davis "continues to minimize, rationalize and offer excuses" for his role in the killings.
"The viciousness of the Gary Hinman and Shorty Shea murders, the relationship of those murders to an effort to incite a race war ... and Bruce Davis' attempts to minimize his criminal responsibility make him an unreasonable risk of danger to society," the letter reads.
Michael Beckman, Davis' attorney, said his client has taken responsibility for the crimes and has changed since entering prison.
Davis has a sterling disciplinary record, Beckman said, has become an ordained minister and has earned his master's and doctorate degrees in philosophy and religion via correspondence school.
"If the goal of prison is to rehabilitate and get prisoners back into society, he's a textbook example," Beckman said. "He's not going to bother anybody. He's just going to go home to his wife."
Davis was not involved in the 1969 Manson family murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others. But, according to Cooley, he "occupied a major role in the Manson family hierarchy."
He was convicted in the killings of Hinman, an aspiring musician, and Shea, a stuntman and a ranch hand at the Chatsworth ranch where Manson and his followers lived. Police found a Black Panther symbol at the Hinman murder scene, which prosecutors later said was an attempt to incite a race war, which the Manson family called "Helter Skelter."
Manson and most of his co-defendants have repeatedly been denied parole. Susan Atkins died in September, shortly after a state parole board panel rejected her plea for a "compassionate release" because of brain cancer.
Davis had been denied parole 25 times before. At his 26th parole hearing, a two-person panel recommended he be freed. The governor can allow the decision to stand, reverse it or send it back for further reconsideration by the entire parole board.
In the comments one of our esteemed regulars pointed out that Bruce might be the last to know what really happened with some of the more prominent events. That got me wondering what he might actually, really know.
Before we posit, we need to reflect upon what his relationship was with Charlie. If Watkins was the puppy dog, and Watson the pit bull, that makes Bobby the rival and Bruce the confidant and right hand, with Clem the court jester.
Bruce, when his actions can be tracked at all, is always at Charlie's right hand.
He arrives with Charlie at Hinman for the ear lopping. He is right there in the fray with Shea. He is convicted in both. Upon Charlie's orders, he vanishes in the sewers. Upon Charlie's orders, he gives himself up, never to be a free man again.
So we know he's close. If there was an actual NUMBER TWO then that would be Brucie.
So what does Bruce know, for sure?
--> How Hinman went down, and why. I mean what were they talking about in the 35 minute drive over there? --> Who else was involve in the Shea Murder and cleanup (Gypsy?)? --> Who killed Doreen Gaul? (I think he did) --> What happened and why at Cielo (I believe he went there hours later with Charlie) --> Why was LaBianca targeted? ( He knew True )
Any one of these answers would change the study of this case forever.
So yes, I would love to see Bruce answer them.
But he won't.
And therefore he should not be freed. Which I don't think he will be anyway. Bobby has only half the murder convictions that Bruce has and he's stuck too.
Danny Galindo dies at 88; LAPD detective in Tate-LaBianca murder cases He was the first detective to arrive at the scene of the LaBianca slayings and conducted a detailed search, according to the book 'Helter Skelter.'
From a Times Staff Writer
April 8, 2010
Danny Galindo, a retired Los Angeles police detective who helped investigate the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders, died of a heart ailment Tuesday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, his family said. He was 88.
"He was an important member of the Manson murders investigative team," said Vincent Bugliosi, who was the chief prosecutor in the case. Cult leader Charles Manson and several followers were sentenced to death (later reduced to life terms) in the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and five others.
Described by Bugliosi as amiable and hard-working, Galindo was a member of the LAPD's prestigious Robbery-Homicide Division when he was sent to the Tate house in Benedict Canyon, where the first five killings took place on the night of Aug. 8, 1969. As he told Los Angeles magazine last year, he took charge of the evidence being gathered and stayed to guard the house after the other investigators left the gruesome scene.
The next night he was filing reports at Parker Center downtown when he was called to the scene of two more murders, this time in the Los Feliz area. He was the first detective to arrive at the LaBianca residence and conducted a detailed search, according to Bugliosi's book about the murders, "Helter Skelter." Galindo later testified about the results of his search, including finding the word "WAR" carved into the abdomen of Leno LaBianca.
On the night of the LaBianca murders he was asked by a television reporter if the Tate and LaBianca murders were related and regretted his answer. "I told him, 'I think it's more of a copycat case.' I introduced that expression, and I've lived with it forever. It was a hell of a mistake on my part," he said in the Los Angeles magazine piece, "because it wasn't until much later that things would begin to fall into place."
Galindo was born in El Paso on May 4, 1921. He flew a fighter plane for the Army Air Forces during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart and Flying Cross after he was shot down over Germany.
He joined the LAPD in 1946 and quickly became a detective. He retired from the department in 1977 after three decades in homicide. He later worked as an investigator for the State Bar of California before starting his own investigations firm.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Margie, a son, a daughter and a grandchild.
Heat is building on Scott (The Machinist) Kosar's script for The Family, his long-gestating project about Charles Mason.
