DVD Release
Gimme Skelter (2007)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Burning Paradise Entertainment / 2008
Director: Scott Phillips
Writer: Scott Phillips
Cast: Trent Haaga, Gunnar Hansen, Billy Garberina, Elske McCain
Review by James Garfield
Phillip Valentine (Billy Garberina) has gathered a cult of admirers around him, telling them that he is the bastard son of Charles Manson. In quest for a stunt that will capture Dad’s attention from the penitentiary, the new “family” settles on a small town with a tiny population which they figure they can utterly decimate in one night. One town dweller, Todd (Mark Chavez) has gotten in serious trouble with his girlfriend Jonda (Jillian Parry), who has witnessed him having sex with Brass (Jaymi McNulty) in an alleyway. Brass had been trying to recruit him into the “family”, but instead he becomes their main antagonist as he struggles to find help and save Jonda from the killers.
Gimme Skelter was shot in New Mexico on DV and a micro-budget. The fairly ambitious premise gets covered moderately well; we know that Manson still has admirers, and Skelter reveals the dead-end nature of the attempt to bring such obsessions to life. The title manages to reference both of the violent California-based events that brought an end to the era of peace and love: the Manson murders, “inspired” by the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter”, and the Rolling Stones’ chaotic Altamont concert, documented in the film Gimme Shelter. The movie takes a bit of time to get going, slowly introducing us to the ensemble cast of small-town desert dwellers, which includes cult favorites like Gunnar Hansen, Trent Haaga, and Elske McCain. Things pick up when the “family” begins their home-invasion ambushes on the townies. Along the way there are some choice humorous lines (although this is still very much a straight horror movie rather than a parody or over-the-top horror-comedy), and some eye-popping nudity from the females.
Although slow going at times (not all of the characters are that interesting), Gimme Skelter boasts occasional genuinely imaginative touches (like the woman trapped in a dog cage and force-fed milk), and a better-than-usual rock soundtrack by currently little-known bands. It’s certainly a stand-out among today’s flood of micro-budget horror flicks.
