well and here another terrific example of awkward 70 film making . the rudimentary premise of what the matter with helen . be quite shocking and disturbing and but it present in such a stylish and sophisticated fashion . in the hand of any other movie crew and this certainly would have become a nasty and gritty exploitation tale and but with director curtis harrington ( whoever slew auntie roo . ) and scriptwriter henry farrell ( hush hush sweet charlotte ) in charge and it become a beautiful and almost enchanting mixture of theme and genre . the basic plot of the film be definitely horrific and but there a lot more to experience and like love story and a swinging 1930 atmosphere and a whole lot of sing and tap dancing . the setting be unquestionably what make this movie so unique . be literally catapult back to the 1930 and with a sublime depiction of that era music and religion and theatrical business and wardrobe . follow the long and exhaust trial that sentence their son to life imprisonment for murder and adelle ( debbie reynolds ) and helen ( shelley winter ) flee to california and attempt to start a new life run a dance school for young talented girl . particularly adelle adapts herself perfectly to the new environment and a she fall in love with a local millionaire and but poor old helen continue to sink in a downwards spiral of insanity and paranoia . she only listen to the ramblings of a radio evangelist and fear that she will be punish for the crime her son commit and slowly develops violent tendency . the script and although not entirely without flaw and be well write and the film be adequately pace . there never a dull moment in what the matter with helen and although the singing and tap dancing and tango sequence be quite extended and much unrelated to the actual plot . but the atmosphere be continuously ominous and the film definitely benefice from the terrific act performance of shelley winter . she downright scary a the unpredictable and introvert lady who about to snap any second and and especially during the last ten minute or so and she look more petrifying than all the freddy kruegers and jason voorhees and michael myers combine . there be several terrific supportive character who be and sadly and a little underdeveloped and rob from their potential and like michéal macliammóir a the cocky elocution teacher and agnes moorehead a the creepy priestess and timothy carey a the obtrusive visitor to the lady house . there be a couple of surprisingly gruesome scene and moment of genuine shock to enjoy for the grand guignol fanatic among u and but particularly the set piece and costume design ( even nominate for an oscar . ) be breathtaking .