What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

[bigshot]

I'm a big fan of the psycho-biddy genre and I had never seen this one before. It was a lot of fun. It looked and sounded good on my projection system, but the audio level was quite low. Boosting the volume helped. The vintage atmosphere was a nice touch. Most movies in this genre don't take place in the past. Debbie Reynolds acted up a storm with great conviction, Dennis Weaver was stiff as a board, and Shelly Winters stumbled around like a drunken sailor in a daze. The big surprise was Agnes Moorehead as an Aimee Semple McPherson style evangelist. This was a role she was born to play. I would have watched a whole movie with just her in that part. The story's twists and red herrings weren't as engaging as Baby Jane, but you watch a movie like this for the characters, not the plot so that was OK. There was one point that puzzled me however. Near the apocalypse at the end, the elocutionist meets with Shelly Winters and then it abruptly cuts to Debbie Reynolds. We never see what happens with him and he isn't in the movie any more after that. Was something cut out? I was hoping he'd get a grusome send off, but there wasn't one.

[WaverBoy]

I had the privilege of dining with Curtis Harrington one evening when he was in town for a film festival, way back in the early '90s, and asked him about that very thing. He said that nothing happened to Hamilton; he just ended up saying goodnight and leaving. I agree, Ham needed a much better exit.

[Jobla]

I kind of wish that Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters had switched roles.

[Mr. Thomsen]

I love hag-horror/ Grand Dame Guignol/ psycho-biddy, too. It's great to see the genre finally getting some press again due to the Feud series.

I just showed Baby Jane to the gf, which was a big success, and she craves more now. So I decided to upgrade some more of the DVDs, I have, before we watch them.

Have this one, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo and Dead Ringer on their way in the mail at the moment. Thinking about getting Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte and the aussie release of The Nanny next. Hopefully someone will also upgrade What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice and Strait-jacket before long. Now's the time.

[vanlutz]

I saw this every day when it was in the theatre. This was a Christmas present, and it brought back great memories. I'll be watching this quite a few more times.