Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Janet Maslin, New York Times: S. Lynch has both talent and a point. Her film is by no means the gory, exploitative quasi-pornography that it sounds like from afar. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Read more
Variety Staff, Variety: It's probably just as well that last-minute dropouts Kim Basinger or Madonna didn't take the title role, as the presence of a star lurking powerlessly on the little platform no doubt would have been distracting and more laughable than it [is] now. Read more
Joe Brown, Washington Post: Helena might have been salvageable as a so-bad-it's-good camp goof -- if only it weren't so boring. Read more
Rita Kempley, Washington Post: What Ms. Lynch has given us is a prettied-up snuff movie. Read more