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What's The Matter With Helen? [Blu-ray]

Debbie Reynolds (Actor), Shelley Winters (Actor), Curtis Harrington (Director) Rated:

Format: Blu-ray

45 ratings

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Editorial Reviews

Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters star in this stylish shocker set in 1930s Hollywood about two women who come to Tinseltown to start an idyllic new life and end up in a terrifying nightmare. Directed by Curtis Harrington (Queen Of Blood, Games), this relentlessly frightening film also stars Dennis Weaver (McCloud), Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched, Dear Dead Delilah) and Yvette Vickers (Attack of the Giant Leeches, Attack of the 50ft Woman).

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.8 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches; 2.4 Ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 43449099
Director ‏ : ‎ Curtis Harrington
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Widescreen
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 41 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ March 21, 2017
Actors ‏ : ‎ Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters, Dennis Weaver
Studio ‏ : ‎ Shout Factory
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N1QDPMB
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #87,127 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #334 in Musicals (Movies & TV)
- #2,638 in Mystery & Thrillers (Movies & TV)
- #6,404 in Drama Blu-ray Discs

Customer Reviews:
45 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		63%
4 star		29%
3 star		3%
2 star		5%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jess F.

Great early mystery

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2017

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Terrific thriller with plot twists. Don't turn your back on Helen.

4 people found this helpful

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James C Girasa

Good movie that would be better as part of a collection

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2017

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This review is for the blu-ray version of 'What's the Matter With Helen?' released by Shout! Factory in March, 2017.

I first saw this movie a few years ago as part of MGM's Midnite Movies. It was released with 'Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?' I thought it was pretty good then and decided to get this new blu-ray version. Lately all of the old MGM Midnite Movies have been being released one at a time. The problem that I have is that I don't feel that these movies should be released on their own. They should probably do what they ended up doing with all the MGM movies and release them as a pair. They don't give you enough to stand on their own. Perhaps if they added some commentary tracks or interviews or something then it might be worth it.

BLU-RAY and EXTRA'S: The picture is very good. It is a bit on the dark side but that is probably because that's the way it was shot. The pictures itself is clear and I didn't notice any imperfections. It is in widescreen 1.85:1. The extra's are minimal. You get a trailer, still galery and a radio spot. If you want the best possible picture for this movie then this is it but other than that there isn't much reason to upgrade from MGM's Midnite Movies.

PLOT/SUMMARY: (***Lots of Spoilers***) Helen Hill(Shelley Winters) and Adelle Bruckner (Debbie Reynolds) both have kids that have committed murder and change their names and take off to Hollywood to escape the hatred in their hometown. Adelle opens up a dance academy and Helen works as her assistant. They both live in fear that somebody will try to take revenge on them for the sins of their kids. This is especially so with Helen. Helen soon starts to have psychological problems. Adelle meets Lincoln Palmer (Dennis Weaver), the father of one of the children who attends her academy. A romantic relationship ensues. Helen becomes jealous of their relationship. She feels like she is being pushed aside.
One night a stranger shows up while Adelle is out with Lincoln. Helen kills him thinking that he is their for revenge against her. She finds out that he was an investigator who was looking for her so that she could collect on money left to her by a dead relative. Adelle comes home and together with Helen they dispatch of the body.
Helen worsens psychologically. She kills all her rabbits and admits that she killed her husband. Adelle wants her gone as soon as possible. Shortly thereafter Adelle and Lincoln plan to elope. Helen stabs Adelle in the back and kills her. Lincoln comes to pick up Adelle and finds her in the pose that you see on the cover of this DVD case. Helen is playing the piano.

THOUGHTS/CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: I know that it was done deliberately but I think that showing the ending of the movie on the poster art was a dumb idea.

Dennis Weaver plays the husband to be of Debbie Reynolds. I still think of Dennis Weaver as 'McCloud' from my youth.
I've read some criticism of Shelley Winters and her acting performance but I don't agree with it. I thought she did a pretty good job.

Apparently a portion of the plot had some realism to it. Winters and Reynolds were friends and at the time Winters was actually suffering from a nervous breakdown.

It is pretty clear from watching the movie that Shelly Winters' character displays lesbian characteristics. They actually filmed a seen in which she kisses Debbie Reynolds on the lips. However that seen was removed because it would have given the movie an 'R' rating. How far we have come since then!

If you pay attention, you will see Yvette Vickers as a mom of one of the children participating in the dance classes. Her role is minor. Vickers was a former Playboy playmate and starred in 50's science fiction classics "Attack of the 50 foot Woman" and "Attack of the Giant Leeches."

I think the movie was pretty good and deserves 3 1/2 to 4 stars as does the print quality. I'm only giving it 1 1/2 stars for the extra's and I would have given this 4 stars if it were priced at $9.99 or was part of a two movie collection. But at almost 20 dollars (at the time of this review in April, 2017) it is a bit too expensive.

4 people found this helpful

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Angel Jove

Very Campy and I loved it

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2018

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I liked this movie because of the camp elements of it, if you like camp you will like this movie.

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William Boswell

Blu-ray version looks very analog to me

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2017

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I purchased the pre-order blu-ray version and received it already. Not the best horror movie I've seen and it seemed to be lacking something in the script. I had heard a scene was cut from the film so maybe that explains it. I don't think I've ever seen this before and I only purchased it to see Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters together.

The audio in the blu-ray version is so low I had to turn the volume up as high as it would go then turn it down when somebody screamed so the neighbors wouldn't complain. It was very annoying having to keep adjusting the volume. I think Shout Factory could have done a better job with the audio and I didn't see much quality in the picture for what was supposed to be HD. The picture was grainy and not as clear as what I expected for a blu-ray. I never understood how HD could come from a film that was standard definition. That would probably explain the grainy picture.

This wasn't worth the price I paid for it at Shout Factory. Next time I'll wait for a sale at Amazon for low-budget horror films like this.

One person found this helpful

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An odd film

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2018

I like to play this game where any time the title of the movie is mentioned, I scream and cheer like I'm Pee Wee sitting on Chairy. Good news for me - What's the Matter with Helen? says it's title more than once, leading to me wondering if I should invest in the paper bags full of confetti that Rip Taylor always seems to have to throw around.

Two young men are going to jail for life after murdering an older woman. Then, we see their mothers - played by Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds - as they bravely face an angry mob and drive away. As they make their way home, an anonymous phone call takes credit for the attack which bloodied up Winters' character Helen. Reynolds character Adelle then reveals her plan to pack up her cardboard standup of herself and move to California to start a dance studio. Soon, the two ladies have changed their last names and gone west.

This is a movie packed with odd situations and even odder characters, like elocution teacher Hamilton Starr and a tramp who continually bothers Adelle. And oh yeah - Helen is madly in love with her friend and becomes insanely jealous to the point that she often sticks her fingers into metal fans when she isn't listening to Sister Alma (Agnes Moorehead) on the radio. Alma is obviously Aimee Semple McPherson, the 1920's and 30's celebrity whose Foursquare Church's faith healing radio broadcasts were the forerunner of modern televangelism and charismatic Christianity.

Adelle falls for Lincoln Palmer (Dennis Weaver), the father of one of her students. He's rich as it gets, rich enough to pay for gigolos to dance with her while he watches in yet another one of those moments that would get explored in a modern movie and are just another creepy aside in this one.

Between Helen murdering people who break into their house, then trying to be forgiven by Sister Alma all while having flashbacks to her husband being run over by a plow, her madness soon overtakes the film and things proceed to a rather sudden and shocking conclusion. There's also an extended miniature golf sequence and numerous rabbit murders, as well as the reveal that Helen may have been right to kill at least one of the intruders.

This movie happened when director Curtis Harrington (Night Tide, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?) and producer George Edwards approached writer Henry Farrell (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) became a hit. was a hit, hoping to get a screenplay. Hagsploitation was in, baby, and these dudes wanted in on the action!

According to Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters's psychiatrist had warned her not to take this movie, as she was about to play a woman having a nervous breakdown while she was actually having one. She claims that Winters became her character to the point that the studio considered replacing her with Geraldine Page, who had plenty of hagsploitation cred after starring in Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?

Winters also totally caught the lesbian undercurrents - well, they're not so well hidden, so let's say overcurrents - in the movie, but the scenes where she really played it up were left on the cutting room floor.

It's worth noting that this was an Oscar-nominated film - for Reynolds outfits, that is. If you have a Debbie Reynolds crush, good news. This is the movie for you. This is also the movie for you if you love musical numbers about animal crackers.

Every single person in this one is disreputable, even the children, who are forced to dress as showgirls and purr songs like "Oh, You Nasty Man." This posits What's the Matter with Helen? as a forerunner of calling out the blatant sexuality of child beauty pageants years before Jon Benet was murdered.

I've always wanted to see this movie, despite its trailer and poster giving away the ending. What were they thinking? That said, there's enough weirdness here to sustain my interest, even if I knew how it was all going to turn out.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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David Hart

Shelley Winters at her deranged best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

2 good films for the price.
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo is a deliciously warped fairytale-like story with quite a few familiar faces from UK films and TV and a twisted "happy ending" John Waters would be proud of.

In What's The Matter Helen, Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds play the mothers of a pair of convicted murderers in the 1930's. To get away from the bad publicity and anonymous, threatening phone calls they move to California and open a dance school for children. Adelle likes a good time and is soon dating a Texas millionaire while the deeply religious and slightly unbalanced Helen stays locked in at home because she fears intruders. They think they are safe until the phonecalls start again and bad things start happening. Someone is out for revenge but who is it? And what is the matter with Helen? This has to be one of the campest psychological thrillers ever made. Good fun with some ketchup gore.

The only slight problem is that the sound on the Auntie Roo disc isnt brilliant so you have to turn the tv up quite a bit, but then again for 40yr old movies that have not been digitally remastered you cant expect cinema sound quality so that is why I am still giving 5 stars

6 people found this helpful

Saintz

Scary

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

Great film duo

One person found this helpful

Matías Espasa

Buenas las dos

Reviewed in Spain on March 28, 2021

Verified Purchase

Buenas las dos. ...dos clásicos q3ay que temer imagen y sonido se Buenos

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MR S GALLAHER

Underrated film

Reviewed in Australia on May 14, 2021

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If you enjoyed Whatever Happened To Baby Jane or Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte then you’ll enjoy the genre of film making. Enjoyed it very much.

MARIO GALVIN

Pack Que le paso a Helen

Reviewed in Spain on October 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

Buenas pelis de los 70 con todo ese rollo del british gothic que tanto gusta a muchos.
Hay que verla.

One person found this helpful

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