winchester mystery house san jose california reviews

#Winchester mystery house san jose california reviews movie

Sarah invites him to stay at Winchester, and it soon becomes apparent she hand-picked him because of his past.

#Winchester mystery house san jose california reviews movie

‘Winchester’: New movie mixes fact with a lot of fiction Price is a mess himself, a drug addict hounded by the guilt of his wife’s death.

“Winchester” plumbs those topics through a doctor (Jason Clarke) hired by the Winchester board of directors to evaluate Sarah’s sanity. Mirren plays the role appropriately enough, but the screenplay veers from serious to campy, and that clashes with the film’s high-minded messages about letting go of both guilt and fear. Sarah Winchester remains a fascinating enigma even when she’s fictionalized, a tragic character hounded by the loss of her husband and daughter who seeks some redemption by creating a dwelling that will trick her spirit intruders with crazy designs. What’s a bummer is that the Oscar-winning Mirren gets saddled with a scattered screenplay that sets her up for a meaty tour de force, portraying the grieving Winchester Rifle heiress plagued by the spectres of those killed by a device that made her fortunes. Production designer Matthew Putland nifitly fills out all the 1906 details, including an early sojourn to San Francisco, certain to be a treat for Bay Area viewers. The brothers filmed for a few days on location as well as in Australia, and they’ve done a decent job imbuing the film with an ominous mood. “Winchester” showcases the weirdo architecture of the freaky 161-room epic architecture puzzle, zipping through staircases that hit dead ends and capturing the surreal construction that goes on day and night. Of the two, the Winchester Mystery House is better served by the brother filmmaking team of Michael and Peter Spierig (“Jigsaw” and the much-better “Predestination”). What will drive curious folks into theaters are the film’s two MVPs: the magnificent Helen Mirren and the massive San Jose tourist attraction itself. Perhaps the scariest thing that happens in the whole movie is a hint near the end that a sequel is in the offing. “Winchester” is a kitchen-sink horror exercise that touches on gun control but is built on cheap jump scares and haunted by the missed potential of its premise, which spins campily out of control in a giggly showdown. Heck, South Bay real estate prices are scarier than anything this movie delivers. Bypass “Winchester,” the derivative, sometimes laughable B movie inspired by the tale of the eccentric owner of the famed Escher-esque San Jose mansion.