I think the filmmakers bit off more than they could chew in attempting to fit this immense, complicated story into the format of a TV movie. There was just so much going on here, and although they did a decent job of cramming all the important pieces of evidence in and tracing the progress of the trial, they left out 99% of the real horror and pain of the situation. In other words it was shrunk down into a standard courtroom drama, ignoring the most important part of the story. In the process, they end up giving far too much leering attention to the Manson Family, while the victims and survivors are almost dismissed. The main value of this movie is that it is likely to persuade you to read the book it was based on, which tells you much, much more of the real story, giving the victims the respect they deserve.
Review of Helter Skelter
