The Manson murders have been the subject of so many different film and TV adaptations that there are more interpretations of what happened than there are films made by his most notable victim. This fact in itself, could be argued as evidence that the madman’s belief that we’re all just piggies eating up whatever we’re given isn’t too far from the truth.
Charlie Says takes a slightly different approach to most, however, in that it focuses on the aftermath of the crimes, with all of Manson’s scenes being in flashback before he was captured and imprisoned for life. The here and now concerns three women in his inner circle who were part of the team who committed the gruesome murders, as they adjust to life in the maximum security wing of the California Institute for Women.
Here, they meet Karlene Faith – a Criminology professor who wants to give these women some sense of themselves back after Manson turned them into willing slaves to his psyche. As they recount the tales that led them to this point, they begin to realise the full extent of what they have done, and slowly break out from under Manson’s spell.
Written by Guinevere Turner, based on the book by Karlene Faith and directed by Mary Hannon, Charlie Says is perhaps the first time these crimes have been poured almost exclusively through a female lens, and the result is a powerful, thoughtful piece which unlike many other interpretations doesn’t dwell on the horrors that took place in August 1969.
Of course, when those events do occur, they are graphic, visceral and don’t shy away from illustrating how horrendous the crimes were. But the scenes are brief and only show what is necessary, freed from the gratuity many would expect from a film of this nature. Instead, the film spends a long time looking at how easily manipulated these women were – fed a hippie spool by Manson, which in turn was then rabbited by his female followers to make impressionable young women fall under his spell and join the cult. And all the while other men come and go, happy to take Manson’s gifts of women as objects for an evening (and in some cases, take them without his consent).
The cast is bolstered by a variety of names familiar to fans of ‘genre television’. Game of Thrones actress Hannah Murray excels in the central role of Leslie Van Houton, and the triumvirate she instigates with Patricia Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon) and Susan Atkins (Marianne Rendon) is captivating in its simplistic complexity.
The Walking Dead‘s Merrit Weaver emphasises why she’s so in demand as an actress, giving Faith all of the warmth and emotional depth she brings to every character she touches. And as Manson, Doctor Who legend Matt Smith pulls on every ounce of charm within himself then smothers in a layer of subtle menace, before amping up the tension as he spirals further out of control.
Factor in The Boys star Chace Crawford as one of Manson’s hanger-ons and The X-Files‘ Annabeth Gish in a brief role as the prison governor, and you’ve got a film that’s destined to be discovered in dribs and drabs by genre fans for years to come as they each dig into the oeuvres of their respected fandoms.
Which is probably how most people will get to see this film, sadly. Distribution seems to have been a bit of a thorny issue, as all of the pre-release buzz didn’t translate to actually being able to find a cinema willing to screen it, and in the UK at least, there’s no HD physical media release – it’s DVD only for the time being, though there is an English language blu-ray available in the Netherlands.
That Charlie Says is buried away feels like a great shame. This isn’t an outright classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a solid film that deserved a bigger audience than it got, and if you’re on the fence about seeing it, I urge you to swing towards picking up a copy.
Charlie Says is available somehow near you. I hope. Check your local listings.
Didymus.uk 