I really enjoyed this movie. The performances are very
good and believable. In the mid-70's, when I was just 14 and
had moved to a condo in the suburbs of San Diego, I read
"Helter Skelter." It was very scary, and it gave me
nightmares. Also, this condo was in a cul-de-sac, much like
the homes the Manson family hit, also in Southern
California. Even though they were in jail and convicted by
that point, it still made me feel very scared and vulnerable
to think that someone could just break into your home and
kill you. You have to remember that this was a very unusual
thing back then. Crimes like that just didn't happen all of
the time, especially in non-urban settings. (It's still
fairly rare; most violent crimes are done by family members
and friends - people you know, not strangers) They did have
burglars, but they didn't generally kill people and usually
broke into people's homes when they weren't there. Also, we
didn't have 24 hour cable news and the internet, telling us
about every awful thing out in the world. Kids and teens
were pretty innocent about things, compared to today's kids.
Anyway, this film does a good job of showing what the
lives of the Manson family were like, particularly his
girls. Like most cult members, they were all from troubled
homes, runaways and the like, and were looking for love and
someone to guide them. They fell in with a bad person, and
he further corrupted them with drugs and mind games.
The heroine of the movie (and in real life) is Linda
Kasabian, who liked their hippie lifestyle but not the
violence that started happening. She had a young daughter
and was horrified by the killings.
I won't spoil for you what happens, but it's a pretty
well-known part of history for most of us. MacKenzie Mauzy
does a great job as Linda (I had seen her as Phoebe in "Bold & The
Beautiful" where she was also great, and in "Forever" on
ABC). Eden Brolin was outstanding as Susan; she
really threw herself into that role. Everyone does a very
good job.
This movie is really worth watching and kind of scary and
creepy. Don't watch it right before going to bed! Or watch a
funny sitcom after it, particularly if you live in a
suburban cul-de-sac in Southern California :)
Read Our Interview
with actors MacKenzie Mauzy, Eden Brolin and Christian
Madsen
MORE INFORMATION
Manson's Lost Girls
Premieres
Saturday, February 6 at 8pm ET/PT
45 years ago today, on
January 25, 1971, cult leader Charles
Manson was convicted, along with followers. See
how it all unfolded
here.
The psychedelic summer of 1969 comes to life in the
Lifetime Original Movie, Manson’s
Lost Girls, featuring the next
generation of Hollywood stars MacKenzie Mauzy, (Into the
Woods), Eden Brolin (I Dream Too Much), Greer
Grammer (Awkward) and Christian Madsen (Divergent).
The film paints a new picture of Charles
Manson's (Jeff Ward, The Mentalist) world, as
told through the stories of Linda Kasabian (Mauzy)
and the other women who fell under his demonic spell to
create one of the most famous cults of all time. Brolin
stars as Susan Atkins, Grammer is Leslie Van Houten, Madsen
portrays Tex Watson, Grace Victoria Cox (Under the Dome) is
Lynnette “Squeaky” Fromme, Isabel Shill (Orange is the New
Black) stars as Patricia Krenwinkel and Garrett Coffey (Battle
for Skyark) is Bobby Beausoleil. Manson’s
Lost Girls follows Linda as she
first arrives at the seemingly idyllic Spahn Ranch hippie
commune where she is embraced with open arms. Seduced by the
group’s free-love lifestyle, Linda revels in the sisterhood
and acceptance. Taken with Manson,
he soon draws her into criminal activities, including
late-night “creepy crawls” to steal from lavish homes. Linda
reluctantly becomes an accomplice in Manson’s
“Helter Skelter,” a drug-fueled murder spree that included
the brutal death of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. She ultimately
breaks away and turns herself in as a witness for the
prosecution and helps to convict Manson.
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