The new horror movie “Winchester," starring Helen Mirren and Jason Clark, came to theaters Friday. It's based on the true story of a woman, Sarah Winchester, whose husband acquired a vast fortune through the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
After her husband died, Sarah inherited the business and all its assets. Sarah began building a multimillion-dollar mansion with abnormal architectural features. Popular legend says the spirits of those who died at the hand of Winchester guns were telling her to build the house.
The base story is interesting, but that is not a word I would use to describe this movie as a whole. The movie is a hodgepodge of predictable horror movie elements, cheap studio production and unnecessary characters. The marketing for the movie tried to use the “based on a true story” line to hook the audience but failed to follow through with a good story and quality production.
Although I didn’t enjoy this movie, there were some things I found to be entertaining. The movie came out during a time of heated discussion of gun control, and the characters comment on the idea that guns are as at fault in the killing of people as the person who pulls the trigger. There were many other positive messages in the movie that made it somewhat enjoyable as well. I rated this movie a 2/5. Be sure to check back next week for my next review.
