As I have so often said, unless a movie is overtly and crudely derivative, or engages in rank ripoffery (such as using an obviously and deliberately misleading title intending to make you mistake it for another, better "name brand" picture), I do not tend to deduct points simply because a particular movie might not be entirely original or unique. For the most part, if you think you've recently seen a completely unique movie, the chances are quite good that you're just so young you haven't seen enough movies to know that what you're thinking is original actually ISN'T. Genuinely original movies do happen, but only EXTREMELY rarely.
Standing on ceremony and lambasting a movie because it's not completely original is akin to refusing to listen to any song more than once. Make an earnest point of always demanding true originality and you'll find yourself seeing only 1 or 2 movies a year, if that. And THOSE will be insufferable art-house garbage that is virtually unwatchable even if original.
And with that build up, it should come as no surprise that WAIT TILL HELEN COMES is not particularly original or unique. Unfortunately, my propensity to forgive unoriginal movies is also insufficient to really save it. WAIT TILL HELEN COMES is nothing more than a ghost picture following a string-of-tropes recipe and no one involved with its making was particularly inspired to go above and beyond from the writer through the director and across the actors. Think meatloaf and mashed potatoes rather than a rib roast with pan-roasted asparagus.
WAIT TILL HELEN COMES is just "okay", it's worth seeing (assuming you're willing to settle for the movie equivalent of comfort food...), but just be mentally adjusted for something run-of-the-mill with no surprises. It's execution of its tropes is more mechanical than scary.
I will say there is one particular scene which is actually quite good and is the best of the movie. If you want to avoid having the best scene of the movie ruined for you, stop reading at this point.
Keeping in mind that the movie focuses on the youngest female member of a family who becomes friends with the ghost of a little girl. In the best of circumstances, the living little girl character is socially backwards and clearly has a number of emotional "issues" of which her penchant for preferring the company of a ghost is completely in keeping with her general collection of undesirable behaviors.
Not far from the home of the living family, hidden in the forest, is the wreckage of what's left of a home that burned down decades before and has been established as the erstwhile home of the little girl ghost. Near the end of the movie, while attempting to save/protect her difficult, ghost-obsessed little sister, the elder sister of the family goes into the wreckage seeking the little ghost girl. In an unoriginal but very well executed scene, the older sister is treated to a semitransparent rendition of the tragic events of the origin story of the little ghost girl overlaid upon what few pieces remain of the home that was once there. It's very sad and does a nice job of explaining how the little ghost girl came to be and why it is the little living girl so identifies with her and would prefer becoming a ghost to be with her rather than go on living in her current circumstances.
And then the creative bubble is immediately burst in the very next scene where we uncover the other deceased family remains related to the little ghost girl in circumstances that make no logical sense.
As long as you have your expectations set at the right level this movie can be enjoyable.
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