Director John R. Leonetti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman worked a reference to the Manson Family murders into their 2014 collaboration ANNABELLE, then proceeded to have insane members of a different cult invade the home of their lead characters. The powers-that-be at New Line Cinema obviously liked what Leonetti and Dauberman did there, because the company has reteamed with the ANNABELLE makers for a film directly inspired by the Manson murders.
Titled WOLVES AT THE DOOR, this project is a home invasion horror movie retelling of the night when members of the cult led by Charles Manson broke into the home of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and brutally murdered her and three of her friends… And yet it's not. Leonetti and Dauberman are distancing themselves from the true events at the same time they're making a movie inspired by them – the characters in the home that is invaded share the same first names as the real victims, but apparently they're not actually supposed to be Sharon Tate and her friends. It has been said that they've also avoided putting in any references to a Manson connection to the home invasion.
Makes sense? Not so much. But here's an official synopsis:
Four friends gather at an elegant home during the Summer of Love, 1969. Unbeknownst to them, deadly visitors are waiting outside. What begins as a simple farewell party turns to a night of primal terror as the intruders stalk and torment the four, who struggle for their lives against what appears to be a senseless attack.
Kate Cassidy, Elizabeth Henstridge, Miles Fisher, Adam Campbell, and Jane Kaczmarek star.
The trailer for WOLVES AT THE DOOR can be seen below, and it feels extremely exploitative to watch a true tragedy get turned into what appears to be a typical home invasion movie, but try to keep in mind that this isn't actually the Sharon Tate story. Well, it is but it isn't.