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Sometimes the only advertising a movie needs is the fact that it's being made. Such was the case with "The Haunting of Sharon Tate" which, controversially, was going to take the infamous murder of Sharon Tate and her friends by the Manson Family into the realm of horror. Or so it was suggested by the title and marketing which got it a lot of attention. In reality, the film is something of a padded for running time mish-mash of new-agey hokum and by-the-numbers genre standards that fails at being a biopic or a horror movie...or any type of movie, really. Maybe it was a case of trying to beat a bigger movie to the punch (Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" was right around the corner, after all) or maybe it actually was a well-intentioned piece masquerading as a horror movie (the film's conceit allows it to "rewrite" history), either way "The Haunting of Sharon Tate" is one hell of a bad movie.
Problem number one with tackling a sensitive subject like a real-life prolific murder is getting the casting right. Obviously, in this case, that means the lead role of Sharon Tate, the iconic actress and titular character. The choice made here is a confusing one. Was it a matter of the production trying to cast at least one name of renown to further publicize their film or, worse, was this their best choice? Either way, we get Hilary Duff as Tate and, let me tell you, she is just THAT...Hillary Duff. There is not a single moment in this movie where you feel like she's doing anything but just wearing a costume and reading lines as Hilary Duff, much less that she's getting lost in the role. No, Duff is just Duff woodenly play-acting as someone else. It almost feels like a joke but the somber mood assures us it isn't. To add insult to injury, Duff bears absolutely no resemblance to Tate who the film brazenly shows us news footage of as a sour reminder of the bad casting.
The second biggest issue are the shades of the unknown/supernatural that are injected into the narrative to lead us to understand that Tate had a premonition of the fateful events a full year before they happened, then continued to be plagued by a series of vivid dreams foretelling everything up till the day of the crime (hence the use of the word "haunting"in the title). As this goes on you just begin to think of the character as a complete imbecile for even going to the place of the eventual murders much more staying there. The solution is as simple as leaving but all she does is get flustered, cry, and get even more of her nerves frayed by an unstoppable deluge of harbingers. Tate is portrayed as the leader of her circle, yet they play her sticking around helplessly waiting for the crime as her inability to convince those around her that she's anything but nuts.
Details of sudden outbursts of violence and chaos like the Manson Family murders are mostly privy to the perpetrators NOT those they victimized. In a movie, the sudden nature of a crime or the maddened reasoning for that crime are usually enough to terrify and intrigue and audience. Clear designations of good and evil can be made from this point of view. Characters are elaborated upon by means of their reactions and interactions. This film, on the other hand, makes the confounding choice to turn the tables on this obvious formula by giving the victims foresight and then having them trounce around like blithering idiots into the slaughter. This feeling persists despite the dramatic shift in the events that the film's ultimate themes allow for.
You see, bad acting and making the audience think ill of the dead isn't the only issue with the film. The aforementioned elements of the supernatural further complicate things. The film's events (sparse though they are) are tied together by the theme of destiny and whether we are in charge of our lives or driven by some horrifyingly uncontrollable roller-coaster of fate. Tate's visions and dreams serve as an inexplicable means to throw fate out of whack. A lot of the superficial details of the events of the murder ring relatively true to life but Tate's premonitions just make them feel false and in service of that very unnecessary conceit.
And, boy howdy, do they shoehorn these dreams into everything, too. In fact, the movie would be relatively short if they took out all the dream sequences and VERY undeserved jump scares. Mind you, the themes of fate explain why these sequences exist but they are still exactly what they are: FILLER. At a scant hour and a half running time this movie feels interminable and like it's running on repeat.
I spoke earlier of possible good intentions and, indeed, one of the movie's only redeeming qualities is that it ultimately uses this profoundly stupid setup to try to give history a bittersweet resolution. Yes, without ruining anything, the new-agey subtext (if you can call it that, with its overbearing obviousness) about destiny lends to a form of alternative end to those tragic events of long ago. The basis of all this is oddly fitting, given the hippie culture of the time and their open mindedness toward Eastern spiritual concepts. Does this save the movie? Not at all. In fact, it underlines how they chose to focus on all the wrong things to get to the end.
Some redeeming factors: The cinematography is pleasant, giving you that sun-bleached California look with a dash of faux dating and realism (lens flares abound for all you that hate them). However, the most noteworthy element in play here is the excellent and atmospheric score from Fantom. One wishes it were in a film better suited for it. Special kudos to the people playing the Manson Family who do a relatively good job of feeling menacing and monstrous, although I wonder if the quality of their performance was elevated by their comparatively fetid peers.
"The Haunting of Sharon Tate" is godawful, boring, and downright idiotic. It's polished enough to give the impression it's none of those things but it's impossible to deny that fact once you watch it. Worst of all, it takes a piece of history and belittles its players by making them seem like complete morons for a good, long time before trying to tidy up that mess with some mumbo-jumbo. Avoid this nonsense at all costs. 1/10
