Left, by C Flanigan/WireImage Right, by Ben King/CBS Films/Lionsgate.
Left, Winchester Mansion, photographed in 2017 Right, a still from Winchester. “But I think, in fact, she was someone with great empathy.” “This legend grew up around her of her being crazy,” Mirren told me, sitting inside the very parlor of the misunderstood woman she plays. But as it turns out, the most curious object inside the mansion was actually Sarah Winchester herself. But there are certainly enough unsettling sights within-a stairway the leads to nowhere, a repeating motif of the number 13 baked into the elaborate decorations, a second-story door that opens out to nothing-to convince Houdini, the friendly Winchester tour guides, and scores of Bay Area residents who visited the house as children (this writer included) that something is awry here. Your mileage may vary when it comes to believing there are, in fact, spirits lurking in the corridors of the Winchester Mystery House. Believe it or not, this ghost-packed film could be the closest mainstream audiences come to understanding that Winchester was far from just a “crazy” lady who built a crazy house. Part historical preserve, part spooky theme park oddity, the Winchester Mystery House has now inspired a new horror movie, Winchester, starring Helen Mirren as the titular, reclusive heir to a massive rifle fortune. There have been over 12 million visitors to the house since its mysterious architect died in 1922. Picking up on some popular nicknames of the day, Houdini dubbed the building “Winchester Mystery House” after the late Sarah Winchester, the secretive woman who built and lived in it. The massive estate, partially demolished by the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, had a reputation for being haunted-and not even Houdini himself could shake the sense that something inside those walls was wrong. Though a magician by trade, Houdini was devoted, at this time in his life, to debunking what he considered a scourge of fake spiritualists and mediums. The so-called Winchester Mystery House, now an off-beat tourist attraction, is located in San Jose, California, and was built by Winchester (or, rather, by her team of builders) over the course of five decades.Ĭonstruction began in 1884 and ended with the wealthy widow’s death in 1922, and seems to have been conducted on an impulsive, wildly experimental basis, without any regard to architectural convention – or, indeed, basic common sense.In 1924, Harry Houdini visited a rambling architectural oddity in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. Intriguingly, when it comes to Mirren's character there’s a fair amount of meat on this movie’s “true” backbone.
Her role? A formidable black-veiled and white-haired widow named Sarah Winchester, who is no work of fiction but a real historical figure known for building one of the most eccentric homes in America. Forthcoming ghost tale Winchester, scare-seekers will be pleased to hear, continues the trend.ĭirected by Michael and Peter Spierig – the brothers behind the vampire virus-themed Daybreakers and the most recent Saw movie – the film boasts an unexpected dash of class in the shape of British treasure Helen Mirren.
When it comes to horror films, being based on a true – or at least nominally true – story can usually only bolster a movie’s marketability.
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