Manson Girl

Charles Manson is America's great boogieman, a man with an amazing and magnetic personality who has spent all but about 16 years of his life behind bars and with a life so twisted, fascinating and compelling that, to paraphrase Voltaire talking about God, if Manson didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent him. At the same time as hippies were promoting free love, peace and harmony with your fellow man, Charles Manson and his indoctrinated 'Family' were busy twisting the Beatles' lyrics from the White Album (especially Helter Skelter) and carrying out gruesome mass murders in the Hollywood Hills, daubing grotesque messages about 'death to pigs' on their victims' walls.

Their trial was a huge media event with some of Manson's 'Family' agreeing to testify against Manson and other members of the Family in return for immunity from prosecution or the promise that they would be spared the death penalty. Some of the defendants also turned up with shaved heads, crosses carved into their foreheads and yelled obscenities at members of the jury and legal profession.

This surreal comedy/horror by Canadian filmmaker Reginald Harkeema follows the trial through the eyes of one of the jurors, a young chemical engineer called Perry, who comes from a devoutly Christian background and, when he is confronted by Manson and the three female defendants, promptly falls in love with Leslie Van Houten. Despite outside pressure, he believes she is innocent until proven guilty and almost couldn't possibly be the sort of person who would carry out such hideous crimes.

Released in the US and just about everywhere else under the title Leslie, My Name Is Evil, but put out on DVD here in the UK as Manson Girl, the film follows the trial and Perry's own internal wrangling with concepts of good and evil, whether to acquit the defendant simply to placate his overbearing soon-to-be father-in-law and whether Richard Nixon's declaration that they are all guilty impacts on his decision-making process.

I'm sure there are detailed and fascinating documentaries and books out there with contributions from various friends and relatives of Manson's victims as well as those who were involved in the court case and so, if you want to really find out the nitty-gritty about the events that fascinated America from 1968-'71. This is a film that is designed to entertain whilst informing you about Leslie Van Houten's role in the crimes and possible motives. With extremely lurid colours and a surreal courtroom -- the entirety of one wall is painted with the 'Stars and Stripes', Harkeema has clearly embraced the grindhouse aesthetic and, by making everything larger than life, ensures that no viewer will take the events depicted as gospel.


I really didn't know what to make of this when it began as it seemed so full of bizarre, offbeat humour and surreal sequences that juxtaposed with the horrors of the murder sequences so I was unsure whether this was a film designed to be bad taste and deliberately provocative, something so badly made that it clunked from scene to scene, switching direction and tone drastically between one scene and the next or a really smart satirical look at the media coverage of the Manson trial. Once I got to the end, I was more of the opinion that it was the latter rather than one of the former and it just makes you wonder what would happen if a juror fell in love with the defendant but couldn't say anything because it would turn him into a pariah.

One thing the film didn't do, which I was quite pleased about, was deliberately seek to demonise Charles Manson and the three other defendants as quite enough has been written and said about them that the very mention of the phrase 'Manson Family' would send shivers up the spines of Americans who were alive at the same time and location when the Family were carrying out its horrific deeds.

Leslie, My Name Is Evil (or Manson Girl) is a very well acted and constructed film that neatly subverts the more gratuitous nature of the media coverage whilst doing nothing to say that the murderers were anything but seriously deranged individuals who enjoy killing.

The Disc

The Picture
With a terrifically coloured pastel shaded palette, the picture does a great job with the vibrant colours of the courtroom which juxtaposes against the grim murder sequences are austere scenes set inside Perry's house and the courtroom church.

Everything is very crisp and clear with very little in the way of moiré, aliasing, grain or other detritus. It is a very good picture and one that really showcases the difference in tone between the various settings.

The Sound
Although the film really doesn't need it, the Dolby Digital 5.1 track does a terrific job with the dialogue and, although the rear surrounds aren't really called upon very often, when they are, they make their presence felt and are generally just there in the background handling the more nuanced and ambient sounds.


Final Thoughts
Manson Girl is a really interesting film to watch as it uses a highly unusual manner to show what the Manson Family did without going overboard on details or re-enactment. The performances are all extremely good, especially Gregory Smith as Perry, Ryan Robbins as 'Charlie' and Kristen Hager as Leslie. If you have a passing interest in the Manson murders but haven't really delved into it in any great detail that this would be a great place to start as it is very well written, acted and directed.

It is a shame that the disc is, a trailer notwithstanding, completely vanilla as I would have liked to hear from Reginald Harkeema and some of the actors, perhaps in a commentary, but, even without any supplementary material, this is still worth a rental.