Leslie, My Name Is Evil (2009) Reviews

• An artistic look at the late 1960s

  grmagne2009-09-17

  LESLIE, MY NAME IS EVIL largely focuses on the trial of Leslie Van Houten, a member of the infamous Manson Family, and a young male juror, Perry, who is seduced by her eyes and smile and feels sympathy for her plight. There are two worlds explored here: that of the typical middle-class conservative family of the 1960s and the underworld of Charles Manson and his cult followers. We watch Leslie being seduced into a cult of violence in one back-story while the other has Perry struggling with his desire to stay out of the Vietnam War against the wishes of his very overbearing and patriotic father. Perry then meets Dorothy, an attractive "All-American" Christian girl, who wants to marry him one day but also believes that Perry should serve his country in war first. The last half of the movie shows Perry, now a juror (better than going to Vietnam!), struggling about whether Leslie should be sentenced to death. Naturally, Perry's family expect him to sentence her to death before the trial has even begun. It's a hyper-artistic movie, for example the defendants sometimes show up to court dressed very provocatively, rather than in jumpsuits, nearly everyone behaves inappropriately and there is an enormous PATTON-style U.S. flag on the back wall during the trial. There are also many montages throughout the film that re-create the look & feel of the 1960s. This film may offend some viewers for different reasons. First of all, the film obviously questions how conservative Americans can demonize those on trial for murder while simultaneously supporting an unpopular war, even after the My Lai massacre. This exploration of acceptable versus unacceptable violence is the whole point of the film. Secondly, it paints some of Manson's followers in a sympathetic light. I didn't get the impression that that was the director's intention, but it will probably receive some criticism if it ever gets wide distribution. Leslie, My Name is Evil is an extremely stylish film with lots of montages, satire and quirky dark humour. There are very strong physical resemblances between all of the actors and the real people they portray, so the production team obviously searched hard for their cast; the quality of acting was overall quite good. The style and theme reminded me slightly of NATURAL BORN KILLERS, but obviously the subject matter is radically different. Unfortunately, this film won't get any of the marketing hype that an Oliver Stone movie would receive and these types of Canadian films always struggle at the box office. I really enjoyed this movie and plan to watch it a second time someday.

• Cult classic for fans of satirical satanic humor

  larry-4112009-09-24

  I attended the World Premiere of "Leslie, My Name is Evil" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Gregory Smith stars in this Canadian feature from writer/director Reginald Harkema. Loosely based on the 1960s Charles Manson murder trial, "Leslie, My Name is Evil" is a surreal comedy filled with whimsy and camp. That such a horrific event in American history can be the basis for humor may offend some, but there is a long history in cinema of biting satire which, when infused with the right creative spirit, can be entertaining as well as enlightening. Smith's brilliant performance as the "boyish juror" carries this freaky film, which is destined to be a cult classic for those with a good sense of satirical satanic humor. Fans of the actor's portrayal of Ephram Brown in the long-running television series "Everwood" (2002-2006) will love his positive innocence and dominating presence in contrast to, arguably, some of the most despicable characters in history.

• More a satire then expose

  dbborroughs2010-10-24

  The original title and the dedication at the end of the film calls this Leslie My Name is Evil. Billed as a Horror/expose on Manson the film is actually about a juror who falls in love with one of the girls on trial with Manson...and its a comedy of the blackest sort...actually a pointed satire. Its a very artificial very deliberate film that I admire more than I like. Yea its obvious at times, but its occasionally still intriguing, the final bit where we drift from Manson and his trial to juror at his job making napalm which we then see dropped on people is nicely telling. More an interesting misfire than any sort of hit- I still have to give the film points because I'm curious about how it will play knowing what it is that I'll probably try it again. Its a sort of WTF sort of film. -- Actually I've seen the film a second time since I wrote that and I find it better the second time, when the expectations for the film weren't colored by an out of place title

• Interesting approach

  tbm-52014-06-22

  First off, if you're looking for realism, see Helter Skelter (1976) instead. This movie is not, nor does it attempt to be an accurate retelling of events. The movie focuses on the Manson girl Leslie, and the young juror Perry. Perry is about to get married to a Christian girl, but is having doubts about Vietnam, his faith and the values his father has taught him. Causing him to question if Leslie should receive the death penalty, and if he himself would have behaved differently, had he been in Leslie's position. The movie unfortunately is so badly made, that while it tries to be social commentary it ends up as being a parody. With a parody of a cult, a parody of a murder, a parody of an all American family, a parody of a Christian girlfriend, and a parody of a trial. The only 'real' people in the movie seemed to be Leslie and Perry. But given the subject matter, the meaningless slaughter of innocent people, the joke is either not there or it isn't funny. I would call this movie a guilty pleasure. Kristen Hager and Gregory Smith both deliver a good performance, but they cannot carry the movie all by them self.

• Just go watch a documentary instead

  KineticSeoul2014-10-13

  The beginning few minutes seemed promising, but it started to go downhill from there. The thing is, this director had no idea where to take this movie so it just fall short in almost every level. It's primary focus isn't Leslie or Manson, and the protagonist seemed to be one of the juror Perry. The directing and editing isn't really good and I lost interest really quickly. There just isn't anything interesting or entertaining about this flick. I recommend just watching a documentary over this crap. Yeah, this movie was suppose to be satirical, but I didn't find anything humorous about it. 3/10