MovieChat Forums > Helter Skelter (1976) Discussion > Question abou the uncut version of 'Helt...

Question abou the uncut version of 'Helter Skelter'...

posted 13 years ago by stevenbyczek
25 replies | jump to latest

My mother would not allow me to watch this movie when it was first released in 1976 (I was only 7 years old at the time). I saw it for the first time in the early '90's on WTBS (the "Superstation" from Atlanta, Georgia). I could tell they were cutting out parts during the pre-credits prologue when the black maid found the dead bodies and started screaming: "Murder!"

This movie is no longer available on You-Tube. Just out of curiosity, how gory were the shots of the corpses?

Thanks!

Cheers!

[–] TheGuyWithTheFeet 13 years ago

They were split-second shots. Very short.

[–] stevenbyczek 13 years ago

I see. But evidently realistic enough to be not suitable for "family viewing" during the early 90's.

Thanks!

Cheers!

[–] TheGuyWithTheFeet 13 years ago

Well, I wouldn't mind showing my kids the uncut version. That being said, this is coming from a man who first watched The Shining with his mother in grade school.

Sooooooo...take from my opinion what you will.

[–] stevenbyczek 13 years ago

I see where you're coming from. I guess since "Helter Skelter" (1976) is based on true events it wouldn't be wrong to show the movie to minors age 14 and up for educational purposes (especially if they knew who Manson was and were interested in learning more about his life and crimes).

If my Mom hadn't warned to me NOT watch "Night Gallery" (an old horror anthology TV show that aired in the early '70's) I wouldn't have felt tempted to stay up with my Dad one night and do so. Shortly afterwards, my father and I started watching the old classic monster movies with Karloff and Lugosi on Saturday afternoons, and I have been addicted to horror/sci-fi films ever since.

I lent my DVD copy of the "The Shining" (1980) to my sister (who will turn 50 years old later on this month) and she refuses to watch the film when alone in the house.

Cheers!

[–] hoyo-mont 12 years ago

this movie was MADE FOR TV. You're not missing anything.

[–] stevenbyczek 12 years ago

There were "jump cuts" in the version I taped off WTBS (Superstation Atlanta). They were cutting out the shots of the corpses.

Cheers !

[–] JCrewgirl 12 years ago

This version is up on Youtube once again actually.

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[–] stevenbyczek 12 years ago

"JCrewgirl", Thanks for the update.

[–] screenscreams 10 years ago

Doesn't matter. I rented this movie from a video store when it was on VHS tape. They showed a scene I'd never seen on TV before, and I first watched it on TV in 1976. In the movie on VHS, when Charlie first met Linda Kasabian, he felt her breasts. It makes me wonder if the producer didn't first try to sell it as a theater movie at first, and then cut it for TV.

[–] moosefeathers 10 years ago

There was a theatrical cut of this movie made.

Also, I have dvd, and i don't recall the scenes in the beginning with the corpses ever. Even on it's first run.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] screenscreams 10 years ago

There was a theatrical cut of this movie made.

Oh, thank you for answering. That clears up that question. I've been wondering about it for years LOL
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[–] Jaystats2 (1) 2 years ago

You’re absolutely right. The VHS version is much more explicit and graphic in terms of language(f-word), sexual situations and violence. The Linda Kasabian testimony scene used a double image effect to tone down the violence in the made-for-tv version. The uncensored VHS release removed the double image altogether. The special effects guy used really powerful squibs and an extra large blood packet in that scene, ‘cause when Tex Watson shoots Frykowski in the back, the impact explosion and blood spray was over-the-top -an R-rating even by 2022 standards.

[–] Rocknrollcola 12 years ago

I saw this years ago and taped it. They cut the shots of the bodies of Frykowski and Folger and they were very small cuts. I saw this on Lifetime and one of the Starz channels years later and it was shown with corpses.

[–] stevenbyczek 12 years ago

"Rocknrollcola", I recently re-watched it on "You-Tube." In your original version on tape, did they show Sharon Tate's corpse and the other dead man (in the car)?

Cheers!

[–] babel_on_5 11 years ago

I assume the youtube version is the same as the 1976 broadcast version. If you were looking for gore you'd have been pretty disappointed as they only showed a very brief shot of the corpses double-imaged with Linda Kassabian testifying. In those pre-VCR/DVD/DVR days, you actually saw nothing because it was over too quickly.

---------------------------------
I grieved I had no shirt until I met a woman who had no pants.

[–] stevenbyczek 11 years ago

"babel on five", You're right. As far as I know, the version on "You-Tube" is the uncut version broadcast on TV back in '76.

Cheers!

[–] thegreatheep1 10 years ago

The only true uncut version was the theatrical release in Europe. That version had a bit more violence and some amount of nudity.

[–] stevenbyczek 10 years ago

Thanks "thegreatheep1."

I almost forgot about the European version of "Helter Skelter." Many American "Made for TV" movies (produced in the 70s) were released overseas.

Keep the faith!

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] psychout67 10 years ago

The vhs version I rented way back when was cut in 1/2 of the original running time. The scene where Shorty calls Charlie "horse manuer" he says "*beep* you Charlie" the DVD release has a couple of scenes I've never seen on any TV or previously released version.

[–] dlmcfarland2-2 9 years ago

I thought I remembered seeing the Tate murders being committed without the testimony of Linda K. The only version I've seen since the first time I saw it in '77 was her testimony about the murders and seeing them being committed.

[–] Rocknrollcola 8 years ago

I seen the tv version in which the crimes are being shown on top of the footage of the court court visual. In the two hour edit they show the crimes being committed and you only hear the audio from LInda.

[–] HalfBloodPrincess1967 8 years ago

I seem to remember a scene in this version where a guy (friend of the family, maybe?) has to go to the house to ID Sharon's body, and is so upset that he goes outside and vomits afterward. Is that the uncut version, or is that in both versions?

Just wondering.

AVADA KEDAVRA!!!

[–] bredlau3 8 years ago

both I believe

[–] HalfBloodPrincess1967 8 years ago

Thanks.

I remember when this version originally aired (I was about 6). My Mom wouldn't let me watch it. I watched it years later, when I was in high school.

She didn't want me watching Sybil either (I was about 8), but I ended up sneaking behind her back, and watching that one when she was taking a nap, and got caught and fussed at.

AVADA KEDAVRA!!!