Boxing Helena ** (1993, Julian Sands, Sherlyn Fenn, Bill Paxton) – Classic Movie Review 12,558

Jennifer Chambers Lynch’s highly controversial 1993 body horror thriller film Boxing Helena stars Julian Sands, Sherlyn Fenn and Bill Paxton. Negative reaction and controversies ensued but the film is a memorial to how good an actor Julian Sands could be. 

Writer-director Jennifer Chambers Lynch’s highly controversial 1993 American body horror mystery thriller film Boxing Helena stars Julian Sands, Sherlyn Fenn and Bill Paxton. Lynch took a 15-year hiatus from film-making after the negative reaction and controversies over her feature debut. Kim Basinger was famously sued after quitting the lead role, and there was feminist outcry over the film’s sadistic subject matter, as well as accusations of nepotism.

A shy married young surgeon (Julian Sands) is overwhelmed by a deep obsession with the beautiful but uncaring Helena, and when he has to operate on her after a car accident, he cuts off her arms and legs and places her in a box as his sex slave.

Director Jennifer Lynch follows in her famous father David’s footsteps in this often stylish and hypnotic debut feature. Unfortunately, although it is filled with bizarre and highly unusual scenes, the film is ponderous and self-conscious beyond belief, and lacks a sure touch with the surreal humour that makes David Lynch’s films so enjoyable.

Sands keeps the film going in a notable portrayal of obsession, and the absurd tale has a morbid fascination. But, if it was meant to have something serious to say about sex roles and man’s treatment of women, it is a naïve failure. It led to Lynch winning a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director at the 14th Golden Raspberry Awards in 1994.

The babe in the box could have been Madonna, or it could have been Kim Basinger, but the impossible role ends up in the hands of the unfortunate Sherlyn Fenn, who can do little to help. But the film is a memorial to how good an actor Julian Sands could be, even in very difficult circumstances such as these.

Madonna bailed out shortly before filming was to begin in January 1991, halting production. A month later, Basinger agreed to take over, but started to request major script revisions, which the film-makers failed to make to her satisfaction, so she also quit shortly before filming was due to start, causing the film company to sue her. She lost in court and was ordered to pay out millions of dollars after a sensational, highly publicised trial, which, as a British headline said, cost her an arm and a leg.

The jury verdict in favour of the studio and against Basinger for $8.9 million bankrupted her. She filed for bankruptcy and appealed the jury’s decision to a higher court, which ruled in her favour and the verdict was set aside on appeal in 1994. But she and the studio settled for $3.8 million instead.

Sherlyn Fenn, who had worked with Lynch’s father David on TV’s Twin Peaks and his film Wild at Heart, took over as Helena in December 1991. The role is bad pay-back for good behaviour.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1993. It was released by Orion Classics in the US on September 3, 1993, and by Entertainment Film Distributors in the UK on June 18, 1993, It performed badly at the box office, grossing only $1,796,389 in the US.

The screenplay is based on a story by the film’s producer Philippe Caland, who wanted a woman to write the script and approached Lynch after she gave a poetry reading. Lynch declined to get involved, reportedly telling him ‘Well, that sounds kind of terrible’ but Caland was able to convince her.

The negative reception to her feature debut and controversy surrounding its release led to Lynch taking a 15-year hiatus from film-making. But Lynch returned to directing with 2008’s Surveillance. A year later, she began work on her next film Hisss. Her fourth film Chained was released in 2012.

The cast are Sherilyn Fenn as Helena, Julian Sands as Nick Cavanaugh, Bill Paxton as Ray O’Malley, Kurtwood Smith as Alan Palmer, Art Garfunkel as Lawrence Augustine, Betsy Clark as Anne Garrett, Nicolette Scorsese as Fantasy Lover/ Nurse, Meg Register as Marion Cavanaugh, Bryan Smith as Russell, Marla Levine as Patricia, Kim Lentz as Nurse Diane, and Lloyd T Williams as Sam the Clerk.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,558

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