Time to Face Reality
Season 2: Episode 47
Helter Skelter (1976)
Based on the book written by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, they would come together with JP Miller to write the screenplay about the Manson Murders. The crime that shook the country and is known for killing the hippy movement in two nights.
Tom Gries would direct this two part television film that would shock and stun American audiences for upping the violence and sex on primetime television. This was also broadcast seven years after the initial crimes which was a gamble CBS was willing to take. It was a hit in the ratings and would be released outside America with extra violence and nudity to theatres to become a theatrical blockbuster.
The film shocked and stunned audience with its excellent star turns from Steve Railsback as Charles Manson and Marilyn (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) Burns portraying Linda Kasabian. The film would be nominated for numerous awards and win the Edgar Allen Poe for best miniseries.
Season 2: Episode 48
The Girl Next Door (2007)
Based on a book by Jack Ketchum with a screenplay by newcomers Daniel Farrands and Phillip Nutman and directed by Gregory M Wilson, is a film that is very hard to watch but notable as it is loosely based on a true story. Ketchum was so haunted about the story of Sylvia Likens whose aunt and neighbourhood children would torture, rape, beat and eventually kill her over the summer.
The Girl Next Door is a hard hitting story that does not shy away from the situation that presents itself with an excellent performance by Blanche (Sixteen Candles) Baker as the diabolical Aunt Ruth. The film does have its own retribution level that doesn’t happen in the real story with one of the children trying to save Meg from her Aunt.
The film is very brutal and although this is a fictionalized account of the Sylvia Likens murder, it still gives a very strong punch.
An American Crime (2008)
One year after The Girl Next Door, Showtime produced and aired ‘An American Crime’ which tells the true story of Sylvia Likens murder. Script by Tommy O’Havers and Irene Turner and directed by Tommy O’Havers.
This true story is the shocking tale of Sylvia Likens who was beat, raped, branded and killed by her aunt, cousins and neighbourhood children in 1965. The film would have difficulty finding a distributor due to the subject matter but Showtime would show the film in 2008.
The film would star an up and coming cast which included Ellen Page, James Franco, Evan Peters, Scout Taylor-Compton and an award winning performance by Catherine Keener.
Season 2: Episode 49
Rope (1948)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, screenplay by Arthur Laurents which is based on the true crime story of Loeb and Leobald who killed 14 year old Bobby Franks in 1924. Before being a film, it was a successful play by Patrick Hamilton.
This is the first technicolour film of Hitchcocks and is known for being filmed in real time and edited to look as it is one continuous shot from beginning to end. It is the second film that Hitchcock would film in a limited setting. The film was shot using ten minute takes due to the size of the film cannisters at that time and the set was the largest ever built for a film. The set also encompasses a cyclorama which was in the background with lights coming on in the New York City background, the sun setting and clouds made from spun glass moving across the sky.
The film starred James Stewart and Farley Granger and is truly memorable for its one shot momentum. Hitchcock makes two appearance in this film, see if you can spot them.
Season 2: Episode 50
