"I sat through the movie about the world's most haunted house and wasn't scared once."

Helen Mirren’s new movie Winchester promised to be a film about the world’s most haunted house.

In that sense, it delivered.

It was very much a movie… and it featured a big ole’ haunted house.

But it just wasn’t that scary. Spooky, yes, but not scary.

It makes me very sad to write this but it was bit… meh. A bit underwhelming. A bit like a meal without salt.

Winchester tells the somewhat true story of Sarah Winchester (played by Helen Mirren), the heir to the Winchester firearms fortune.

After the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester, in 1881, Sarah moved to San Jose, California, where she purchased what is now known as the Winchester mansion.

Helen Mirren stars in the new movie about the most haunted house in history. Post continues.

Except back then it wasn’t a mansion, it was pretty modest eight bedroom house.

You see, before she moved west Sarah sought out the services of a well-known Boston medium named Adam Coons. Coons told Sarah her family was cursed by all the spirits of the people who had been killed by Winchester firearms.

He told her she should move out west and build a house for herself and all the spirits… like you do.

The movie picks up several years after this when Sarah is living in the house which is now a sprawling mansion.

Dr Eric Price, a psychologist, who is sent to the house to assess Sarah’s mental health by the Winchester board of directors.

Sarah believes each spirit comes to her in a vision to show her what the room they died in looks like. She then draws the room and has it made for them, so they can be housed in there while they work out their unfinished business.

Once the spirit has crossed-over, Sarah would tear down the room.

She had tradesmen working on the house around the clock building and dismantling the various rooms.

The result? A big freaky house full of weird passageways and doors that led to nowhere.

And that’s pretty much what the plot of the movie feels like too. There’s a lot going on but nothing really ties together or makes much sense.

There’s Sarah who is either the most haunted woman in history or someone who spent a large part of her life living with undiagnosed mental illness.

There’s Dr Eric Price a troubled alcoholic who is dealing with his demons.

And then there’s all the spirits of the people who were killed by Winchester rifles who, well, have their own s**t going on.

Winchester isn’t going to blow your mind, but it does deliver what it promises – a story about the most haunted house in the world.

It might even make you jump a few times.

Winchester is currently playing in cinemas across Australia. It is rated M. 

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