The Haunting of Helena (2012)

Being October, it is always a great time to find some decent flicks with a darker theme. This is especially true if you are searching for unknown low budget flicks, as many companies flood the market during this period. While my next entry may not totally be in the no-budget indie category, it is a foreign indie flick, which can be haphazard.  My selection for the evening was the 2012 thriller The Haunting of Helena (AKA Fairytale).

Plot/ A single mother moves into a new house with her daughter. Soon after the young girl has her first baby tooth fall off, she begins to recount that she is having nocturnal visits by a tooth fairy. It seems the house has a sinister history.

This was a very disjointed movie, almost shot with two different ideas, which never truly come together in a coherent manner. The story is interesting, albeit cliché in some parts, and the first half of the film really works. There is some incredible atmosphere, the effects (yes, even the CGI) and the overall feel works. However, something happens midway through that never truly brings the entirety together. The acting is so-so, the characterization is lacking, sound quality is uneven, the effects dissipate and the creepy atmosphere that was built early-on tends to disappear. Yes, there are some unpredictable moments, which is a positive, but those do nothing to save it from the overall disjointed feel. In the end, this is not a terrible movie, but it is also not the best in the genre. There were some entertaining moments and it seemed to have a lot of potential, but that potential was lost within the storyline that never quite came together.