Wait Till Helen Comes

No character development. Most of the book isn't even in this movie. Hard to even make out what's happening due to how dark it is. The sound quality is horrendous, which really just consists of extremely loud annoying screeching. This book was a childhood favorite and they succeeded in utterly butchering it on so many levels.

The stage curtains open ...

Based on a popular 1986 YA novel, this supernatural thriller was released 30 years later. I'd never heard of either the book or the film before today, but I was thumbing through some streaming options and found this one out there. I decided to give it a watch. I'm always up for a good, dark, mystery thriller - especially if there is a ghost involved. I have seen a few good ones, so I was hoping that this would surprise me and turn out to be a hidden gem.

Set in 1982, a family moves from Baltimore to a small, secluded town where all the kids attend one school. They move into an old church that has been converted into a house - and nearby, there is a cemetary and the ruins of another house which burned down over 200 years prior. We follow the story of Molly, the troubled teen that hates her new house and resents the fact that she is responsible for watching out for her younger sister, Heather. However, when Molly begins to believe that Heather is speaking to another young girl who is a ghost from the graveyard, and who has the same intials as Heather (H. E. H.) - she must put aside her frustrations and save her sister from a terrible fate.

Well, this wasn't a hidden gem, but it wasn't bad. To be honest, this is a rather, plain and average thriller. Color by numbers and formulaic. All the usual tropes are here: a teen girl who nobody believes or listens to, an old man who knows a thing or two about the dead, a visit to the library to uncover some pertinent history, and an ending complete with a vision of what happened leading to a life or death situation. There is absolutely nothing new or shocking, or even frightening here.

The film was shot very well though. The camera work and cinematography were excellent. The movie captures and holds an unsettling feeling from start to finish, and the pacing is never lagging. The story was well told and developed, and the acting was pretty good. This is the perfect ghost story for a young teen. Nothing too graphic or demonic. And for that demographic, I would recommend this film. But, for me personally, it was just "okay" - nothing special.

Molly (Sophie Nélisse) loathes moving away from her late father's resting place in Baltimore. Her mother (Maria Bello) and writer stepfather Dave (Callum Keith Rennie) are taking her, brother Michael and troubled stepsister Heather (Isabelle Nélisse) to an isolated home in a small town. She starts to suspect Heather is falling under the influence of a spirit of a dead girl.

This is a smaller horror. It's good to some extend. Maria Bello is the big name but she's in the smaller mom role. The apparition is unnecessary and probably detracts from the horror. They should play more with whether Molly should be believed or not. Dave could have been a threatening presence that the audience could suspect some abuse. The dreamscape is not nightmarish enough. The ghost reveal should come later in the movie. Otherwise, it's a functional isolate haunted place horror. The kids are good although the ending is lackluster.

This isn't a Disney flick, but it easily could have been because it's the kind of film Disney produced as a Ghost Story back in the 60s. Nothing really scary at all, but mysterious--and there are ghosts. Fun for the whole family. A nice Ghost Story for the holidays.

I'm sorry. I watched this movie just getting into watching horror movies, and I thought this would be good. I almost fell asleep while watching this. Sure there's a little bit of storyline, but absolutely no violence or scariness. When there was what sounded like a jumpscare, I was excited only for it to be Molly's dad. This movie felt so long. There was like nothing interesting but the one flashback scene towards the end. I was very disappointed in this film. The characters weren't even good. I really had hopes in this movie from the trailer, but it lied. It was absolutely nothing like the trailer. 2/10.