Directed by The Spierig Brothers
Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. February 5, 2018, 5:00 PM
"Winchester", the latest from the Aussie film making team, the Spierig brothers, is probably the first haunted house, ghost story with a pro-gun control message. While I personally found the idea admirable, the rest of the film I had more difficulty getting behind. Based very loosely on the life of Sarah Lockwood Winchester, the widow of an owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, who invested some of her incredible, inherited wealth in to the continuous construction on her mansion in San Jose, California. It had been rumored that Mrs. Winchester apparently believed that she was cursed and haunted by spirits, with the endless work on her home as an attempt keep them at bay. It is certainly an intriguing concept to build a horror film around but the plot here is flimsy and the creepy frights never rise beyond obvious.
Six years in to the twentieth century, Dr. Eric Price (Jason Clarke) is approached by a representative from Winchester Repeating Arms about evaluating the widow (Helen Mirren) to see if she is mentally fit to continue running the rifle company. Drug addled, in debit and grieving over the recent loss of his wife, Dr. Price reluctantly accepts the offer, clearly understanding the outcome they expect to be determined.
When Dr. Price arrives at the massive mansion in San Jose, he is greeted by Mrs. Winchester's niece, Marion (Sarah Snook) who is dismissive of the whole idea of his presence but welcomes him in to the home. During dinner, the doctor meets Mrs. Winchester, an intense woman, tightly wound and dressed in black, mourning attire. He later begins his assessment of her which she confesses her ability to communicate with ghosts and feels she can help them move on.
The doctor is initially skeptical of her claims until he begins to see strange ghostly visions throughout the house. He also witnesses Marion's young son, Henry (Finn Scicluna-O'Prey) being possessed by a menacing spirit, forcing the boy to commit violent and dangerous acts. And when the San Francisco earthquake strikes (still considered one of the most devastating of all time), not only do Dr. Price and Mrs. Winchester have to survive the violent tremor but they also have to fight against a large number of extremely agitated ghosts that arrive to the house seeking vengeance.
Best known for their impressive sci-fi vampire thriller, "Daybreakers", Michael and Peter Spierig certainly can deliver compelling concepts and stylish visuals yet the brothers are more challenged when it comes to creating full-blooded characters and expressive dialogue. And the only frightening moments they come up with are jump-scares which grow increasingly annoying and tiresome as they continue on throughout the film.
A friend told me he would even be happy to pay to watch Helen Mirren read the phone book. While I won't go that far, I do greatly admire the extraordinary talent of this veteran British actress. Ms Mirren uses her undeniable charisma to fill in the underdeveloped Mrs.Winchester but her real purpose here seems only to explain the motivations of the ghosts in order to move the feeble plot forward. Mr. Clarke, the fine Australian actor who has been spending a lot of time perfecting his American accent which he uses here, in last year’s “Mudbound” and for the upcoming “Chappaquiddick” in which he plays the late Senator, Ted Kennedy, injects some much needed energy to the dire proceedings.
In the end, “Winchester” is a decently executed but generic ghost story filled with too many cheap thrills and lazy scares. But the Spierig brothers were wise enough to have the heavenly gifts of Ms Mirren and Mr Clarke to not only bring a touch of class and gravitas but also help distract from the simply average spirits that haunt this film.
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