The Haunting of Helena has a promising premise, but is dismally executed. The Haunting of Helena alludes to Fascist Italy breaking new ground in former Italian swampland that led to masses of workers succumbing to malaria. Does that mean a rich history of the entire area and disturbing the dead like Poltergeist with allusions to the unresolved past sins of Fascist Italy? Nope. Are we going to get a creepy twist on the tooth fairy legend? Nope.
The real story is about a mother and daughter who unwittingly and temporarily occupy an apartment with a disturbing history, but are still affected long after they leave the building. The best part of The Haunting of Helena was the twist at the end with the neighbor and ghost’s real identity, which was evocative of Guillermo del Toro’s work, but was too little, too late.
The Haunting of Helena kept putting in moments that seem significant, but end up going nowhere. When people start questioning whether or not the mother was really a threat to her daughter, it felt hours too late considering what happened on the bridge. NOW you’re worried. You should have called DCF ages ago.
The casting and acting were wretched. The Haunting of Helena is one of those movies where you have to ask why the leads HAVE to be from a country other than the one where the action unfolds. The mother is inexplicably British and a professor, which only because relevant when she looks at slides of old photos. The father lives in Mexico and is involved in the music scene. The daughter looks like NEITHER of them. Is there a subplot where they kidnapped an Italian child, but no one thought it was the professor and the hipster so the crime went unsolved? Is it because little girls with super black hair hanging over their face are innately scary?
The Haunting of Helena is not worth your time. Watch The Ring, The Orphanage or Pan’s Labyrinth instead.