MovieChat Forums > The Haunting of Helena (2013) Discussion > Problems with the movie

Problems with the movie

posted 11 years ago by jmbwithcats
8 replies | jump to latest

The pacing of the movie is awful, it slows down and speeds up and mostly crawls along, back and forth around and this way and that so much that the movie feels like it goes on absolutely forever, so I'd say the pacing is a serious flaw. They could really learn something from Verbinski's pacing skills in his remake of The Ring in 2002.

I think that might be its biggest flaw. Otherwise it's actually not bad.

As is, I rate it a 6, but if it had better pacing and tighter story, so the development of the poor woman was more brought forward, and the atmosphere and creepiness be more than non existent, especially concerning the woman and the killer... etc... the actual depth of script they lose because they meander too much with the mother... I imagine this movie could have been amazing, instead of just okay.

The twist was awesome though.

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[–] fiatlux-1 11 years ago

*spoilers below*

I agree! I just watched this, and was actually able to fast-forward parts of it and miss NOTHING!
The scenes where the Mom wanders seemed to happen every few minutes.
I did love the twist though, it did remind me of "The Ring".

I was so disoriented that by the time the mother watched the video of the 'murderous husband', I didn't even realize who the heck she was watching!

The ending is a real chiller though. I thought maybe Helena had become possessed by the evil woman, but her becoming a VICTIM & a GHOST trapped there was a shocker.

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[–] derekandfeleciaeby 11 years ago

I thought it was a pretty good movie and parts of it scared the heck out of me but I didn't understand whyHelena ended up as a ghost in the old mental ward. It sounds like you both get it so if you can explain it to a rather simple-minded person I'd really appreciate it.
Thank you.

[–] fiatlux-1 11 years ago

I think she became a ghost there because the evil's other victims were trapped there, and also because her mom was there so she didn't want to leave her.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

[–] laurasia210 10 years ago

She became a ghost there because thats where the ghost ended up kling her

[–] Tyler-A-Arse 10 years ago

but I didn't understand whyHelena ended up as a ghost in the old mental ward. It sounds like you both get it so if you can explain it to a rather simple-minded person I'd really appreciate it.

You're not the only one who wasn't clear on that. I was curious about that, too. I assumed it was because she wanted to be close to her mom? Hell if I know.

[–] stitchesaresore 10 years ago

The being close to her mum makes sense, but if she was "living" in the newer ward, was killed in the newer ward, and now her mum stays there it seems like her ghost is in the wrong ward. That moment, while great in theory, bothered me so much due to her placement.

[–] maylei29 10 years ago

The ending redeemed it for me

[–] valarie7 10 years ago

The mother's scream toward the end, whilst looking in the last room, was truly chilling. Best horror movie scream I've heard.

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