'The Haunting Of Sharon Tate' Trailer: Hilary Duff Deals With Ghosts, And The Manson Family

Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has drawn early criticism from some who fear the filmmaker might exploit the violent murder of Sharon Tate. We haven't seen any footage of that film yet, so we should probably reserve judgement. For now, though, there's The Haunting of Sharon Tate, which certainly looks as if it might be in poor taste. The horror film stars Hillary Duff as the late actress, who finds herself haunted with visions of her impending demise. Watch The Haunting of Sharon Tate trailer below.

Hoo-boy, there's a lot to unpack here. Look: I am not against a movie focused on the actions of the Manson Family, nor am I against a film that dramatizes the tragic real-life murders of Sharon Tate and the four other people who were killed by Manson's followers in August of 1969. But if you're going to depict those acts, you should probably approach them in a tasteful way, or at least a way that's respectful to the victims.

That certainly doesn't seem to be what's going on in The Haunting of Sharon Tate, especially with this brief synopsis: "Pregnant with director Roman Polanski's child and awaiting his return from Europe, 26-year-old Hollywood actress Sharon Tate becomes plagued by visions of her imminent death."

Yikes. Maybe I'm being too sensitive. Maybe the final film somehow finds a way to make this concept work, and I certainly don't want to pre-judge a film without seeing it. But there's something particularly icky about this. Why not just make a film inspired by this true story, but change the names and dates? That would probably go over a lot better. Then again, if that happened, the film couldn't use the attention-grabbing title The Haunting of Sharon Tate.

Based on this trailer, the film's version of Sharon Tate is in a constant state of mania long before her life is even in danger. And I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there's a scene here where she has a vision that Charles Manson himself shows up at her door, which is all kinds of wrong. Maybe that's not supposed to be Manson, but the infamous cult leader is definitely a character in the film somewhere – actor Ben Mellish is listed as playing him.

The Haunting of Sharon Tate, written and directed by Daniel Farrands and starring Hilary Duff, Jonathan Bennett, and Lydia Hearst, opens in theaters and arrives On Demand April 5, 2019.