''Leslie, My Name Is Evil'' is a 2009 Canadian film written and directed by Reginald Harkema. It was renamed ''Manson, My Name Is Evil'' after its initial release.

Plot

Leslie is a troubled 1960s teenager who eventually becomes a follower of Charles Manson and is charged, convicted, and sentenced to death in August 1969 for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. The story revolves around how a young

juror A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

, Perry, becomes infatuated with Leslie during her

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

Cast

* Kristen Hager as Leslie Van Houten * Gregory Smith as Perry * Ryan Robbins as Charlie Manson * Kristin Adams as Dorothy * Peter Keleghan as Walter * Kaniehtiio Horn as Patricia Krenwinkel *Anjelica Scannura as Susan Atkins *

Travis Milne Travis Milne (born July 18, 1986) is a Canadians, Canadian actor, best known for portraying Officer Chris Diaz in the drama series ''Rookie Blue''. Life and career Milne is from Lac La Biche, Alberta. He was a student in J.A.Williams High Schoo ...

Bobby Beausoleil Robert Kenneth Beausoleil (born November 6, 1947) is an American murderer and associate of Charles Manson and members of his communal Manson Family. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the July 27, 1969, fatal stabbing of Gary Hinman ...

* Sarah Gadon as Laura *Tom Barnett as Bob Ronka

Release

After the film was renamed,

Twitch Film ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

criticized the film's marketing as deceptive, as it emphasized Manson instead of Van Houten.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website, reports that 67% of nine surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.96/10. Rick Groen of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' rated it 2/4 stars and called it "a cinematic essay that occasionally seems smart and sometimes just smart-alecky." Peter Howell of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' rated it 1.5/4 stars and wrote that Harkema's comparison of the Manson murders to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

"a dubious, illogical and frankly offensive connection to make". Todd Brown of

wrote that "despite some very promising elements, Harkema is just not quite up to the task."

References

External links

* {{Manson Family 2009 films 2009 drama films Canadian drama films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Courtroom films Works about the Manson Family Films shot in Toronto Films set in San Francisco 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films English-language independent films