Review of Winchester (2018) by Thomas D — 05 Feb 2018

It's gotten to the point where I go to see movies (that I have no interest in seeing and I likely know will be bad) just because I have a Moviepass. I'm a firm believer in not judging a movie until you go to the theater, but sometimes it's difficult to escape what you see in the trailers. With Winchester, there was little to no substance in the marketing material and the film pretty much followed suit. The story of Sarah Winchester and the haunted house she owned for so many years felt like a fascinating premise, especially knowing the similarity it could have had to The Conjuring films. However, Winchester falls flat as a boring horror film that lacks in just about every facet of filmmaking.

As haunted house horror films go, naturally the main story thread involves a possessed child and the demons that force him to do inexplicable things. We've seen it before time and time again, and besides a select few, I haven't found it to be a compelling narrative approach. Perhaps that's because it's been overdone, or perhaps it's that most of the time the characters just aren't fleshed out enough. Either way, the possessed child in Winchester haulted any sort of interest I had.

Even with Jason Clarke, Helen Mirren, and another chilling performance from the up and comer Eamon Farren (Twin Peaks), there wasn't much at all to write home about.

2.6/10.