Thank you for this film. I am also from Holtville. I am a recovery alcoholic for over 10 years. I found out that Andrea's best friend in the film, Erika, passed away in February 2006. I heard that she died of an accidental drug overdose. How sad - another life taken by addiction. She was amazing and brave in the film. Do you have any more footage of her? She was beautiful at 14-years-old. Ten years later, you can tell that she had addiction problems, including her weight. How can we stop all of this madness? Is drug treatment enough? Perhaps classes in schools to help children detect their dysfunctional environment and report it? Am I suggesting that Big Brother should take over our families? There is no clear answer, but I do believe we need more counselors in rural and inner-city areas who will provide quality low cost therapy. America, wake-up, we're letting the drug war defeat us. 

Thanks again for this film. I keep thinking about the potential impact it could have on millions of people. This film is profound,

Holtville Survivor

"Chilling...riveting, a multi-layered probe into the making of a horrific crime. A hard-hitting yet compassionate confrontation of some of the darker realities of modern America :  the fact that in many ways-- too many ways--ours is a narcissistic, image-driven, drug-dependent and violence-obsessed culture. Constance Jackson, in making Blitz Attack , renders a powerful, timely and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of what can happen when shame and humiliation are allowed to develop unchecked in a mind that is fascinated with violence. When such a mind commits the kind of crime that is so carefully unraveled in the film, it properly warrants being seen as an entire society's cry for help--indisputable evidence that something has gone terribly wrong at a personal as well as larger community level. Hence, the film is a compelling appeal to consider a question we too often avoid when humans commit heinous acts: how did it happen, really? In the case of the teenager in Blitz Attack who commits a brutal murder, we are prodded, merely by watching the film, to ask ourselves: Who created this murderer? We are aware that he didn't create himself, for no one does, really. So who or what created him and his crime?  Blitz Attack  does not directly answer this question, and herein lies its power and beauty. It presents us with a choice: see the murder as an isolated act of a tormented and twisted mind (there are plenty of facts presented to argue this case), or listen to the people touched by the crime, those whose lives will be forever wounded. Beneath the rage and the blame and the guilt, you can hear in their voices some as yet faint recognition of another, more difficult but more hopeful truth: that perhaps we really are our brother's keeper, and that when genuine help is here, the cries will no longer be necessary. 

Paul F. Dorin, Ph.D., MFCT/Author

I wanted to let you know that I watched both of the DVDs last night. I thought that you did an excellent job putting it together. You describe Holtville exactly as it is. There was no exaggerating or playing it down. I loved the fact that every one gave very genuine honest interviews and some had differences of opinions based on the type of relationship that they had with Adan and Andrea. I have to commend Skip's honesty recognizing his drug addiction and what kind of affect he thought it may have had on Adan. Vickie herself is an amazing woman to endure all that she has and to not let bitterness be at the forefront of her life. I admire her strength to stand by Skip as she has for all of these years. I hope that she continues to do so however still continue to help him become sober and be the man, husband, father and positive role model to the community that he should be.   

I feel that by purchasing this movie I have purchased a little treasure in my life that I can keep and watch from time to time. I refuse to let it collect dust on my shelf. I'm hoping that I can use this movie as resource for others around me who may need.    

It shed light on my own immediate family as my brother has been a drug addict since he was thirteen years old. His addiction began in Holtville. My father's as well. He (my father) at one time did smuggle marijuana across the border. My mother and father divorced when I was 11 years old and she remarried and we started traveling back and forth from Holtville to ______. That's how I ended up in ________ permanently. But, we dealt with the aftermath of my brother's Holtville up bringing for many years. My brother has been sober for two years now. My father moved away from Holtville and is sober as well. I do believe that had I not been removed from Holtville and given a better chance at life that I may have ended up like Erika (possibly). I have some cousins who are in the Turning Point Rehab. In town, as well as some friends, whom I've lost touch with.    

I appreciate this movie wholeheartedly. It puts a lot of things in perspective for me. My son is 14 years old and so far so good. I count my blessings every day as he is in the Explorers Program at the Sheriff's Department doing a lot of volunteer work and going to be going to the Explorers Police Academy for a week down in San Diego in July. My daughter who is 9 decided after spending many Sundays with us in Church to get baptized on the 16th of this month.    

I just recently got re-married in March and we now have four kids between us. I've attached hour photo so you can put a face to the name. My husband being the spiritual leader of our house really loved the way everything was put together. We're thinking maybe we might be able to utilize this movie in a great way to others who may be having trouble with their children.   

My mother in law is in the restorative justice program and I too think she can get a lot out of this movie. She has a story herself. She had a home invasion and they raped her daughter and killed her husband. The kid who shot her husband I used to sit next to in class. You can look her up on the Internet. She travels around and gives many speeches. She's gone to the prison and forgiven them for what they have done.    

I appreciate what you have done here and hopefully you will continue to make movies that will make a difference in peoples lives.

Escaped from Holtville

"My friend and I really appreciated seeing this film. Ms. Jackson sure did a great job!"
Monterey Park, CA 

"What a senseless murder. Heads need to roll other than that 13-year-old murderer."
Wilmington, CA

"I’m glad Erika is not my best friend. On second thought, if I were Andrea, I’d be proud to have Erika as my friend speaking on my behalf. She is a strong woman who was able to shed some light on this very very bizarre story."
La Jolla, CA

"Geeze! Is Skip still alive? He must be full of guilt. Vickie too. Christina too. The whole town should feel guilty. How could they miss this crazy kid’s behavior? Negligence was written all over the place—the school, Adan’s home, the Hines house, the lack of mental health services…. "
Orange County, CA

"I feel sorry for all of those poor people, even the town, but most of all, I feel sorry for Andrea and Adan who are forever lost." 
Boyle Heights , CA

“Blitz Attack: The Andrea Hines Story” is successful as a documentary because it skillfully weaves multiple points-of-view to create a multi-textured mystery of a heinous murder – without ever exploiting the subject or descending to sensationalism… In its “home movieish” way, it tastefully portrays a family and town, leaving the reader to participate in the interpretation of events. Why was 14-yr-old Andrea Hines murdered? The quest for answers probes deeper social, psychological, and ethical questions.

I thought the true subject of this film was responsibility. Who was responsible for Andrea’s murder? What could possibly drive a 13-year-old boy to commit such a heinous crime? And while we heard many voices, the voices of Adan’s friends, Andrea’s best friend, Adan’s teacher, Andrea’s parents, brothers, and cousins, psychologists and other professionals, as one by one, those interviewed advance different interpretations of what motivated the murder and offer different perspectives on Adan and Andrea, the viewer must ultimately draw their own conclusions.

The filmmaker kept some distance from all the personae – as if to suggest that they are all in some way responsible for this crime. Even the town bears the burden. Yet for us, the crime, even solved is unresolved. Perhaps if we fail to address the larger problems suggested here, history will repeat itself. It’s Adan’s generation and our society that’s at risk and Holtville is just a microcosm of that. With its allusions to the O.J. murder, I could not help but draw the conclusion that the escalation of violence against women in the past decade and the proliferation of crimes by adolescent males against women is a function of changing sex roles and women’s emerging independence. What happened in Holtville is a mere microcosm of some of the tensions in American society.

For me, this was a crime of retaliation – against family and community and women. Adan wanted Andrea to experience the powerlessness, vulnerability, and pain he experienced at her hands – and at the hands of everyone that mattered to him in his own life. While I don’t know enough about Adan to speculate whether he will go on to become a serial killer, as some psychologists predict, he clearly needed help. In his prison interviews, he seemed unable to connect to his emotions or feels remorse; therein lies the danger for us.

We, the viewer, are not privy to Adan’s version of what happened that night. This creates further mystery – even if the reason for the omission is that his family dreads the publicity of the documentary on the eve of their son’s release from state prison. Without the voice of Adan or Andrea, and with no witnesses to the crime, the audience must instead patiently piece together events and draw inferences from a tapestry of scenes and interviews, trying to find patterns and resonances. This made the film special.

I enjoyed the documentary… it made many powerful statements. The lives of ordinary people are often more interesting than fiction. Such is the draw of reality television – and such is the appeal of this documentary. Most importantly, the film resonated and sparked illuminations several days later. Few movies leave you with something to think about – and when they do, they are important ones. For a first film, this was a stunning achievement.

West Hollywood , CA