Chaos: The Manson Murders
Morris seems to know that Tom O’Neill doesn’t have a convincing case to make, and that Bobby Beausoleil is far closer to the truth in seeing Manson as merely an extreme example of the criminal’s mindset, motives and manipulativeness. But his friendship with O’Neill means that he allows himself to make a documentary filled with empty speculation and nothing new to offer, on a subject that has really been done to death. It is standard prosecutorial practice, for the purposes of obtaining conviction, to concoct motives that might not strictly conform to the real reasons a crime is committed (especially for murder cases where motives can be murky), so demonstrating that Vincent Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter” theory is bogus hardly counts as a revelation. Morris’s worst film, one that almost seems unethical, and really, he should have known better.
Mini Review: Morris knows O’Neill has no convincing case, and that Beausoleil is closer to the truth in seeing merely an example of criminal manipulation. But his friendship with O’Neill means he allows himself to make a documentary filled with empty speculation. It is standard prosecutorial practice, for the purposes of obtaining conviction, to concoct motives that might not strictly conform to the real reasons a crime is committed, so demonstrating that Helter Skelter is bogus hardly counts as revelation.