The Winchester (2018) or I Saw This Movie so You Don't Have To

The Winchester (2018) Oh, how I love a good pun on a movie poster

Last night I saw The Winchester, newest film from the Spierig Brothers about the famously haunted house out in San Jose, California. Starring Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke, I settled in with my movie companions and was hoping for some good scares, but my expectations for the film were pretty low due to some early reviews. The scares were there, however overall, this movie is a shade above terrible.

Helen Mirren hams it up as Sarah Winchester, widow of the head of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. After her husband died, a psychic urged her to move west from Connecticut and build a house to trap the spirits that were haunting her. So that's what she did, bought  a small house and expanded with rooms that were unreachable, staircases that went nowhere, and some other odd stuff. Google it. Better yet, next time you're in San Jose go visit it then report back to me. I'd love to hear about it. The character development is pretty weak thanks to a plot with more than a few holes. It then rushes everything together in the last quarter. The acting is fine, and seeing Mirren get to chew the scenery is fun, but with the exception of the scares, it's a bit of a slog.

This is not to say we didn't have fun. Everyone likes to laugh at me when I jump and scream in my seat, and I revel in it to be honest. It's why I go to horror movies- I like being scared in this controlled environment- whether its a quick jump scare or the drawn out, suspenseful scares. I've enjoyed the horror genre since I was a kid and probably will until I reach my final movie going days.

If you want a well done ghost/ haunted house movie, skip this and just watch The Conjuring (for jump scares), Crimson Peak (for style over substance jump scares) or better yet, the Uninvited (for old school still scary jump scares).