Guided Tour as Documentary: Six Degrees of Helter Skelter

Helter Skelter: The True Story of The Mason Murders  has the best opening line in a book I've ever read:

"It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon."

This is the kind of opening line that lets you know you're not going to put the book down. Written by Vincent Bugliosi, prosecutor during the Manson trials, the novel follows the Manson Family and their victims in exquisite detail, leading them into their final collisions.

Though, this isn't about the book, Helter Skelter. This is about the 2009 documentary Six Degrees of Helter Skelter, which explores the actual sites of the crimes committed by, and residences of the Manson Family.

The film starts unfortunately, with an opening line that let me know I was going to be disappointed. The dictionary definition of helter skelter is cited, and then juxtaposed this with what the narrator deemed would be Charles Manson's definition: "The end of the world brought on by the Beatles."

I could not believe that within the first 7 minutes of a documentary there would be such blatant misrepresentation of facts. In a nutshell, Manson did believe the Beatles knew about the end of the world, which he called "Helter Skeleter," but he did not believe that they were the ones "bringing it down." Helter Skelter was what Manson believed to be an inevitable race war.  For an unabridged explanation of Manson's interpretation of Helter Skelter, click here.
 



The whole documentary is lead like a Hollywood tour. That is because Six Degrees of Helter Skelter was directed by and stars a Hollywood tour guide, Dearly Departed Tours owner, Scott Michaels. This fact is made abundantly clear during the first 15 minutes of the film, which are devoted to Michaels' life story and proud show-and-tell of his morbid Hollywood memorabilia collection.

Michaels claims his legitimacy in the film by taking some time to besmirch other tour guides with his concept that a guide's own desire to be a famous actor is inversely proportional to how many facts they get right. Not a good argument to start with considering the evidence of Michaels' ego so far. The constant flow of hearsay, was irksome. Even facts that matched up to Bugliosi's novel were peppered with lines like, "I knew a guy who," and "I heard [insert famous actor] claims this."

Overall it was amateurish and masturbatory. Michaels didn't bother to re-record or cut out any of his stammering, or cute lines like, "I got my GPS bitch in the box thing." Most shots were of him walking to and fro the alleged crime scenes.  He was name-dropping like crazy, and only two people were interviewed. So much for all those guys he knows.

There are a few positive moments to note. Michaels used full color uncensored crime scene photos, and had video footage from Trent Reznor's stay at the Cielo Drive house. Recordings of Manson's songs were also played during the film, which were haunting, especially a song sung by the women of the Manson Family.

If you don't know much about the Manson Family murders, watch this film, but be forewarned that there is much more to know than what is presented. If you have ever read Helter Skelter, any other Manson related books, or seen any other Manson documentaries, watch Six Degrees of Helter Skelter for the crime photos, Reznor footage, and Manson music, but that's all that you will gain.

It is a neat concept to be taken to these crime scenes as a true to life alternative to a classic stuffy documentary. However, the novelty wears thin when you realize you aren't really there; you're watching a documentary. As tours go, it's pretty enthralling, but as documentaries go, it's a C+ at best.