Winchester - Okay

Starring: Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Jason Clarke
Director: Michael Spierig
Runtime: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Biography | Fantasy | Horror | 2018

Horror movies based on real events are always creepy, but for some reason I just never believe that they are actually real. I’m not saying that the main characters in real life didn’t actually experience this stuff, but perhaps it was all psychological and in their heads. But also, I could be wrong. I’m a skeptic towards things like this, but it’s still great entertainment for movie purposes.

Winchester tells the story of Sarah Winchester, who has a connection to the afterlife and the spirits, all of whom have been murdered or killed by the Winchester rifle. These spirits show her different rooms and she builds them onto her massive mansion, turning the home into a maze for the living. Well, Dr. Price (Jason Clarke) has been hired to test the sanity of Mrs. Winchester in hopes that the Winchester business can be taken from her.

During his stay, he too experiences these ghosts or entities. The thing that I thought was a stretch (which I’m sure was thrown in there for film purposes) is that he can see them because he too died from a Winchester rifle… but was brought back to life by what I assume is CPR. Not sure if they have paddles back then.

The film centers around one ghost who is here with a vengeance. Overall, the movies isn’t bad. It doesn’t have the jump factors like most scary movies do, and it’s not entirely creepy other than that fact that Mirren’s character where black all the time and those old-timey black veils overs her head to make her look like a spooky ghost. I thought the story was well thought out, but definitely over dramatized for the big screen.

I would love to go visit this house one day. I looked it up and it’s still over for tourists. I’m going to give this film an “okay” rating. It was good and I didn’t hate it, but probably would not watch it again unless it was free or something. (2.5/5).