An Uncle Who Wasn't There

Bruce Von Stiers

The Campbell family has a huge decision to make. The mom's brother, Michael, has been missing for seven years. The family now must decide if they want him declared dead. And to determine what to do with all of Michael's things. That is the beginning of the horror short film Helix.

As the family starts going through things in Michael's house, they find all kinds of weird and strange things. The one brother, listed as the Protagonist in the film's credits, doesn't want the uncle declared dead. As he goes through Michael's house, he sees a strange door at the end of the hallway on the second floor.

He finds an old radio that he's going to take home and try to get working again. But that's not quite what happens. Instead, it's a turntable and a strange record album.

As he investigates what happened, things get really weird. He meets a man who says he spoke with the uncle only six months ago. Then he finds a copy of his uncle's book, and he gets a feeling of foreboding. A visit to his friend Charlie's brings forth additional strange things. Is he losing it, or is there something more ominous, more dangerous going on?

As the film moves forward, unexplained and unexpected things keep cropping up. Is the protagonist the victim of some horrific prank, or is he caught up in some kind of kinetic experience?

Robert Hall (Bobby) Campbell IV played the protagonist. Tyler Campbell played his brother, and Susan Campbell played their mother. Per the IMDB listing for the film, this is the only screen credit for all three of them.

Bill North played Samuel Cane, a man the protagonist meets with to try to find some answers.

Josh Staats played Charlie, the protagonist's friend. He co-starred in the mystery horror film Departure Film. Eric Schanker played Not Charlie, another character in the film. He appeared in Super Happy Fun Clown and Don't Let Me Stay. Erin Underwood played an art gallery employee that the protagonist also tries to get answers from.

The film was directed by Bella Wasson. She was the script supervisor for Departure Film and May 24. Bella also wrote the screenplay for this film.

Cash Erikson was the cinematographer. He was the cinematographer for Departure Film.

Films such as Helix don't really fit into the traditional formats of horror or sci-fi. There are no creatures out to tear you from limb to limb, nor are there any space aliens trying to abduct you and cart you away to the stars. This film is as much a psychological drama as it is horror or sci-fi. The viewer doesn't get a true sense of what's going on until the very end of the film. Even though I found the plot a bit strange, the suspense that builds in the film made it well worth watching.

Helix can be viewed for free on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01cujfpaaxY&t=958s

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© 2025 Bruce E Von Stiers