Going to the Pictures (XI) - Winchester

Film review time!

Winchester (6th February 2018)

I’ll start by saying that yes, the first time I heard about a creepy film about possible ghosts, and that it was called ‘Winchester’, I immediately thought of Supernatural. Wait, you mean you didn’t?

The story centres around the real life mission of Mrs Sarah Winchester (played by Helen Mirren), owner of the actual Winchester Repeating Arms Company, to keep adding rooms to her already huge house. The men back at the company offices suspect she’s bonkers. In an effort to have her declared unfit so they can swipe her control of the company, they send in Dr Eric Price. Promising him money and comfort if he can pronounce her unable to keep control, they send him off to San Francisco safe in the knowledge that they’ve snaked her company out from under her.

In the film however, once he gets there he’s cut off from his comforts; no drink, no laudanum (something to which he’s become addicted) and no snooping around the monstrous house. One wing in particular is announced off-limits, only piquing his interest.

It turns out she isn’t completely off her rocker; the reason she keeps adding rooms (that are then torn down and replaced) is that she’s in the process of atoning for all the souls taken by Winchester guns or rifles - something of an ongoing battle. I won’t reveal how or why as that would spoil the movie, but basically it’s something only she can do. Dr Price slowly begins to realise what’s going on and any thought of selling her out to the company is lost in the struggle to survive.

A few good jumps and scares (not a horror by any stretch of the imagination), this is an atmospheric and successful creeper - not a slasher or screamer flick. You expect to see things jump out from behind people, or the wall, or thin air. Whether they actually do or not you’ll have to see for yourself.

Helen Mirren is always good and Jason Clarke as Dr Price is cast against his usual soldier type, and he does well. The build-up to what you think is coming is a good one, and you may be surprised by the ending. I did like how some of the climax was explained, and I liked how it ended up.

Verdict: 8/10; solid, creepy, edgy, and not what you think.

That’s it for now. The next movie we have tickets for is Black Panther, which I’m trying not to get excited about so it’ll be much harder to be disappointed.

Soopytwist.