Boxing Helena

Saw this when it first came out in 1993, when Sherilyn Fenn was the "It" girl. I only wanted to see it because it was directed by David Lynch's daughter and I wanted to see if she was as quirky as her legendary filmmaker dad. The first viewing made me think how great a Vincent Price vehicle this could have been. Like her father, Jennifer Lynch takes us on an eerie trip about obsession and control. Fenn is Helena, the one-time lover and object of a surgeon's (sands) affection. After an accident, he takes her to his house and amputates her limbs, then places her in a box and keeps her as his possession. Sands is subtly creepy and the film has a lot of psychological dynamics and is not as bad as its IMDb score suggests. This is a film you want to see when you're looking for something 180-degrees from run-of-the-mill.

''such a nice fantasy'' ?????

To me the whole point of this film was to wrap you up in what is an extremely sick and obsessive male fantasy, make you almost believe it is OK, and then at the end you look at what you have accepted and realise it for what it is.

Boxing Helena is not comfortable watching, but I think a brilliant and involved portrayal of how people(men generally) justify and accept the most controlling acts and confuse them with love.

As a teenager, I caught this movie partially on TV, and, not knowing its name, for years I was searching for it to watch it properly. A few years ago I accidentally bumped into it on some list of the most controversial films of all time, recognized it, and finally got it. The years of waiting paid off - I was thrilled.

I do not want to go into the particular story because I can not do it without spoilers. I will only say that this is convincingly the most morbid love drama I've ever seen, which at the same time provokes fascination and repulsion. In some instances I was sympathetic with the psychopath, in the other with the victim, while at the moments I was wondering who was actually crazier. The first choice for the role of Helena was Madonna, but the contract was then signed with Kim Basinger. Kim gave up in the last minute, she was sued for nine million dollars, and the leading role went to fantastic Sherilyn Fenn, who perfectly portrayed the role of an arrogant "ice-queen", so cold-blooded that even in this extreme situation I could not unreservedly sympathize with her. Maybe I'm too subjective, because of her role in the series "Twin Peaks" and my fascination with this film, but I really think that with Kim this would be a complete failure.

Something disturbed like this can not come from a normal mind. As apple does not fall far from the tree, it is hardly surprising that the script was written by the then nineteen-year-old daughter of David Lynch. A few years later, Jennifer directed the film and won Razzie Award for the Worst Director. Besides the award for the worst directing, there is a rating of 4.6 on IMDb, Metascore 26 and 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. But when you put it all on one pan of scales, and then Sherilyn Fenn climbs on the other side...

9/10

This is an hypnotic, powerful tale of obsession and eroticism. Sherilyn Fenn is wonderful as Helena and gives a performance way beyond the cherry-sucking antics of Twin Peaks. Despite the torture inflicted on Helena, Fenn's portrayal never allows you to feel abject horror, as her Helena remains caustic, tough and impossible to break throughout the film. Julian Sands is good, although he maybe over-eggs the pudding a bit in some of the more gruelling scenes. The first sight of Helena propped up in bed without legs is never forgotten and the special effects make her amputations incredibly realistic. It's just a shame that the ending is such an appalling cop-out, sanitised for viewers who couldn't accept that love and need can blossom in the sickest of circumstances. In fact, I felt tears of frustration well up at the ending because I felt so cheated! If only it had been braver, this would have been a film of groundbreaking proportions. Fenn is great though and acts the hell out of Kim Basinger, the original choice. Watch it but don't build yourself up for the ending.

I thought that this film was very weird but at the same time i couldn't help but like it. it was one of the films that stuck in my head for ages after i saw it , i saw it 10 or so years ago now but still remember it well, its not to everyones taste but if you like a little break from the norm film i would have a watch its not like the rest of your kidnap and murder flicks its about an obsessed man who kidnaps his ex g/friend and cuts off her arms and legs to stop her getting away, its quite strange to see her there helpless and limbless and then the twist at the end is very good i don't think its one for the faint hearted but worth it if you don't mind weirdness with a little twist to top it off.