''Leslie, My Name Is Evil'' is a 2009 Canadian film written and directed by

Reginald Harkema Reginald Harkema (born 1967) is a Canadian film editor and director. He is a three-time Genie Award nominee for Best Editing at the 17th Genie Awards in 1996 for ''Hard Core Logo'', at the 19th Genie Awards in 1998 for '' Last Night'' and at the ...

. 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 and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England dur ...

, 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 ...

Cast

Kristen Hager Kristen Hager is a Canadian actress. She co-starred in films '' Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' (2007) and '' Wanted'' (2008), and played Leslie Van Houten in the independent film '' Leslie, My Name Is Evil'' (2009). From 2011 to 2014, Hager star ...

Leslie Van Houten Leslie Louise Van Houten (born August 23, 1949) is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Li ...

* Gregory Smith as Perry *

Ryan Robbins Ryan John Currier (born November 26, 1972), better known as Ryan Robbins, is a Canadian actor. Early life Robbins was born in Victoria, British Columbia. Career Robbins is known for his roles as Ladon Radim in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Henry F ...

as Charlie Manson *

Kristin Adams Kristin Nicole Adams, née Holt, is a television personality, entertainment news correspondent, singer, and viral video creator. Adams first rose to public awareness on ''American Idol''. Between 2005 and 2008, Kristin served as the second host ...

as Dorothy * Peter Keleghan as Walter *

Kaniehtiio Horn Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn (''née'' Batt; ; born November 8, 1986), sometimes credited to as Tiio Horn, is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for a Gemini Award for her role in the television film '' Moccasin Flats: Redemption'' and sh ...

Patricia Krenwinkel Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel (born December 3, 1947) is an American murderer and a former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Sco ...

*Anjelica Scannura as

Susan Atkins Susan Denise Atkins (May 7, 1948 – September 24, 2009) was an American convicted murderer who was a member of Charles Manson's "Family". Manson's followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a perio ...

* Travis Milne as

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, w ...

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

as Laura *Tom Barnett as Bob Ronka

Release

After the film was renamed,

Twitch Film Screen Anarchy, 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-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, and Stephen Wang ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

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 Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' 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. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' rated it 1.5/4 stars and wrote that Harkema's comparison of the Manson murders to the Vietnam War "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 Cultural depictions of Charles Manson Films shot in Toronto Films set in San Francisco 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films