Inspired by a true story, Helen Mirren’s character begins building the aforementioned house after the deaths of her husband and child. The story is based on the Winchester Mystery House, located in California and once the residence of the real Sarah Winchester. She inherited 20.5 million dollars following the sale of her husband’s house and a significant portion of the ownership of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Using this fortune, and at the behest of a medium claiming to channel her husband, she began building the Winchester house to house the souls of all those killed by the company’s rifles.
Alright, that’s really good inspiration for a horror flick.
Winchester seems to take the base elements of the endless construction of the house to create its story. This woman did spend the rest of her life endlessly adding onto the house, and what’s even cooler for the story, she did not hire an architect to plan the building. The additions therefore were haphazard and often poorly planned, leading to doors and stairs going nowhere.
Now the demons and ghosts and such? Well, Mrs. Winchester believed in them but it’s not hard to imagine why when half your mansion might lead nowhere. Whatever the case, the concept provides some terrific setup for a movie.
Winchester is scheduled for release on February 2, 2018. Starring alongside Helen Mirren are Jason Clark, Sarah Snook, Angus Sampson, Laura Brent, and Tyler Coppin.
Image and Trailer Courtesy of Diamond Pictures
