Haunting of Winchester House

(2009) **

The Grenye family moves to Winchester house to be its caretakers. Think of the Shining, but without the alcoholism or violence-prone father. As soon as they arrive, creepy things start happening and their daughter is eventually abducted. Is it the paranormal investigator who conveniently lives down the road, or some other malevolent force?

THe Real Winchester House

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA, is an extremely cool place to visit, and if you haven’t taken a tour, I highly recommend it the next time you’re in the Bay Area. This film uses the same history as the Winchester house, and is thus able to bill itself as a “terrifying true story.” Sarah Winchester, a young widow, felt she was haunted by the victims of those killed by her husband’s famous invention, the Winchester rifle. She felt the only way to appease these spirits was by constantly re-modeling and adding on to her home – sometimes in bizarre ways that would confuse the spirits. The Winchester House thus shows us a number of “stairs to nowhere”, doors that open up to long drop-offs, doors that open to walls, etc.

See? Creepy stairs to nowhere!

The Winchester house is a tourist attraction in a very populated area. The film makes it a deserted location, isolated in a smll mountain town. The plot is terribly predictable, the characters boring as can be. For such a low-budget affair, there are some cool creatures/special effects that could be unsettling if you view this one late at night with the lights off. The film’s score adds to this as well. And, if you really want, you can even select the 3D option on the DVD! (I would’ve, but I didn’t have the glasses). Overall, this movie falls into the cool cover/bad movie category that Catfreek has referred to.