Winchester 2018

     This film is inspired by true events.  The most haunted house in the world is located on an isolated stretch of land 50 miles outside of San Francisco.  Heiress Sarah Winchester continues to build rooms onto her large mansion for 38 years.  Workers are on 24-hour shifts every day.  She says she is haunted by the souls of the people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.  Dr. Eric Price is hired to determine if Sarah is sane and in control of her faculties.  His review will determine if Sarah can still lead the Winchester Rifle Company. 

     The success and also the reputation of the Winchester began after the introduction of the .44 Henry rimfire cartridge and the Henry and 1866 rifles designed for this cartridge.  Many Union army units in the Civil War used this ammo and these rifles against the inferior ammo and rifles of the Confederacy.  This company has been responsible for some of the most successful cartridges ever introduced.  Sarah Winchester inherited $20 million equivalent to over $507 million in 2017 and a 50% holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.  She was one of the wealthiest women in the world in 1881.  3* (This movie is OK) 

99 min, Bio directed by Michael Spierig with Helen MIrren, Sarah Snook, Finn Scicluna-O-Prey, Jason Clarke, Emm Wiseman, Alana Fagan, Rebecca Makar, Tyler Coppin, Michael Carman, Angus Sampson, Alice Chaston, Eamon Farren.

Note:  Imdb 5.4, 14% critic 36% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 531 reviews, Metacritic 28 out of 100 with 18 critics 4.3 out of 10 with 52 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in San Jose and San Francisco, California; Melbourne and Ripponlea, Victoria, Australia.  The Winchester mansion has been a tourist attraction since 1923, one year after the death of Sarah Winchester.  Very little filming took place inside the mansion.  The design is extremely cramped and this made filming very difficult.  Most of the mansion’s interior was recreated on sound stages.  Sarah Winchester had severe, debilitating arthritis.  She had a series of short risers, only 3-4 inches high in place of stairs.  She could not raise her foot more than a few inches.  The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake caused the top three tiers of the house to collapse and multiple rooms were permanently closed because they were unsafe.