Sarah Winchester inherited her husband's hugely successful gun manufacturing company after the deaths of her husband and her child. In her grief and with the influence of psychics and spiritualists, she believes that she's being haunted by the deaths of the people killed by the guns her company made. She purchases a home in San Jose and keeps it constantly under construction, addition more and more rooms, hallways, chimneys, and stairwells that create chaos. The Winchester Mystery House has stairways to nowhere, chimneys without enough fireplaces, and even sealed off rooms that have collapsed. The company sees her constant use of Winchester funds and seeks to find her incompetent to lead the company with the help of Eric Price, a disgraced doctor hooked on the drugs he is supposed to administer.
Winchester, the film, is based on a story so fascinating and bizarre that it's impressive how dull and unimpressive it turned out to be. There are some good aspects, but the film as a whole falls short. Helen Mirren is good as always as Sarah Winchester, grieving widow and strong as steel against everything. She has seen so much and doesn't let anyone push her around despite the treatment of women at the time. With the company, she pushes to produce things that don't kill people and succeeds. Her household is run very specifically and everyone follows her every word without question. They seem to like and appreciate her as well as respect her whether because of money or they actually believe in her supernatural crusade. When Eric comes in, he tries to circumvent her rules, but she pushes right back as those around her support her completely. Sarah has his drugs confiscated and doesn't let him upset her house.
Eric Price is a drug addict who seeks the company of sex workers whenever he can to escape the pain of his deceased wife. Sarah chose him specifically to rate her mental state because of his connection to the dead. I hated Eric because of his rudeness and need to break every rule imaginable. He had little respect for Sarah and calls her aggressive at one point for not adhering to his commands. At the end of the film, he interacts with the supernatural as Sarah can't and essentially saves the day. I find this annoying because it reflects what already happens during that time where women, especially older women, had to defer to men in practically all aspects of society. I would love to a see a film where Sarah Winchester saves everyone herself. Her knowledge is the key to this whole thing at its core, but the writers decided she still needed a man to come in and save her.
Plotwise, Winchester is very typical for a supernatural horror. The rules for the ghosts are a little different than usual and there are both benevolent and malevolent ghosts present. Many of the dead are indigenous people, slaves, or poor which was a refreshingly honest inclusion of the horrors of history. The jump scares are the only source of horror, the cheapest of scares. The atmosphere is flat and wasted on the unique house depicted. Overall, Winchester is a disappointment that doesn't bring much new to the supernatural genre and whose plot doesn't justify using the compelling true story behind it.
My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins
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