Film Review: ‘The Haunting of Helena’ Updates Tooth Fairy Legend

Submitted by BrianTT on June 17, 2013 - 3:20pm

CHICAGO – Originally called “Fairytale,” “The Haunting of Helena” will be available on VOD tomorrow, June 18, 2013, before a very limited release on June 21, 2013. It’s a generic, mediocre horror flick with a few effective images and some interesting thematic play in the second act that is, sadly, totally underdeveloped. This update of the Tooth Fairy legend takes the familiar and tries to make it terrifying but horrendous dialogue (someone actually says without a hint of irony, “You must leave this house before it’s too late”) and weak performances will aggravate even the most forgiving horror fans.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

The beautiful Sophia (Harriet MacMasters-Green) has recently moved to Italy with her daughter Helena (Sabrina Jolie Perez), leaving her father (Jareth J. Merz) behind in Cancun. On the other side of the world, Sophia enters a nightmare. Like SO many girls in horror movies (one could program an entire cable channel with just films about children of single parents who are haunted), Helena begins to act real creepy. When her tooth falls out, coinciding with a horrendous car accident (which is actually very visually striking, hinting at a cool movie to come that never quite arrives), Helena begins to tell mommy that the Tooth Fairy wants teeth.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “The Haunting of Helena” in our reviews section.

It starts simple enough. Sophia finds an old coin under Helena’s pillow that she didn’t leave there. Before you know it, the creepy kid is asking for fellow classmates for their teeth to appease the monster in her closet. Naturally, the first instinct is to dismiss Helena’s visions but when the headmaster ends up dead and Sophia learns the horrendous back story of where they live – a woman had her teeth removed there and was left to die after her husband accused her of cheating – “The Haunting of Helena” kicks into gear.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “The Haunting of Helena” review.

“The Haunting of Helena” stars Harriet MacMasters-Green, Sabrina Jolie Perez, and Jareth J. Merz. It was written by Christian Bisceglia and directed by Bisceglia & Ascanio Malgarini. It will be available VOD June 18, 2013 and receive a limited theatrical release on June 21, 2013.