Haunting of Winchester House

I'm in film school reviewing movies over and over. I have to say, it's not the fault of the actors. The storyline on what the proper reaction would be to certain incidents is the fault of the script writer and the director. I wasn't bored in the movie. I saw the whole thing. All movies have defects- just some have less than others! Basically, the end shouldn't have ended like that. The moral of the story from this movie: Speak-up, don't let people exist with a lie! Tell them what really happened.

With all the horror movies made in the USA involving a haunted house, you would think one that features one of the most famous haunted places in the world (Winchester Mystery House in San Nose, CA) would feature a unique and compelling story. However, this film fails to deliver that notion and instead is a campy, low-budget, and unoriginal movie.

This film was Winchester in name only, elaborating very little on the real-life Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester, the heiress who kept construction on the house going non-stop for 38 years to appease the spirits of those killed by the Winchester firearms, was portrayed as just a lost soul looking for her long lost daughter (why she could not find her daughter in her own darn house is beyond me). There was no effort in elaborating the history behind Sarah Winchester nor the many different rooms, secret chambers, doors and hallways in the house. If you're going to have the Winchester Mystery House portrayed in a film, at least make the characters explore the many different and eerie aspects of the house like the staircase that leads up to the ceiling, door to nowhere, the séance room, Winchester's bedroom, the garden, the 7-11 staircase, emphasis of the number 13, etc. Also, make the effort of having the house located in a city like in real life, rather than sequestered in the woods. Detailing and emphasizing the history and mystery of the house will make the film more unique and original. Instead, the lack thereof makes the film dull and stands out as just another low-budget, ghost-on-the-loose horror flick.

Lastly, the acting is absolutely horrible - lack of substance, emotion, depth and drama. It looked as if the actors were ill-prepared for their roles and made very little effort in portraying their characters. I had to cover my eyes a few times just because the acting was so terrible. I have to single out the actress who played "Susan Grenier." I think she is the worse actor in the film who, at times, tries too hard to be realistic (i.e., forcing out tears when she cries).

Overall, if you're bored and looking for a good horror movie to pass the time (like I was), you might be better off choosing to watch something else!

Grade F

Okay there were countless reasons why this movie was atrocious. But i can honestly say that it was placed in the wrong genre. I really think it belongs in the comedy section of a movie store / netflix. The acting was HORRIFIC. The movie was supposed to last 1 hour 25 minutes but it took my sister and I almost 3 hours to watch because we had to stop and rewind and continue to laugh at the terrible acting attempts. First of all the family that arrives at the house moves in, eats dinner and falls asleep. When they wake up in the middle of the night they are WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES!!!!!!! not sure why no one notices this, but it definitely adds to comedy aspect of the movie.

The daughter was supposed to be 7 years old or something but she was taller than the mother and looked like she was about 17 years old. And WTF happened to that woman who flew backwards into a tree after creating the magic dove soap circle. Or the trashbag baby car seat.

The fathers side burns where awkward as hell and the mother sad to say was definitely the best actress in the movie which pretty much says it all.

This movie was LOL funny and if it were in the comedy section I would give it a 10 out of 10.

I wont bother going into too much detail regarding the story as thats already been covered but if you try to imagine a really cheap bad horror from the 70's then you'll have it.

Winchester House itself is a relatively unknown haunted house but in the same vain as the Ammmityville house. I don't know whether the movie is supposed to be based around the true events that happened there or not but its respected enough that Most Haunted have actually done an investigation there.

The acting here is beyond laughable. For instance at one point one of the 'spirits' drag the daughter into a closet right in front of her mother while the mother stands there watching and only shows any shock at whats happening when the daughter is actually in the closet and the door slams. Was she not horrified by some ghost actually grabbing her daughter and dragging her from behind for 20 feet? Then you have the supposed 'psychic' who shows no knowledge whatsoever about the spirit world! The SFX look like they were done on your home PC using MS Paint or something lol. The direction and score are all horrible and the script so bad that its almost funny.

I had high hopes for this, expecting a new Ammityville or something and all i got was a couple of non intended laughs. If you are wanting a good horror with a creepy backdrop, a couple of jumps and something scary then go and watch the Teletubbies because thats a damn site scarier and much better acted lol.

There isn't a whole lot to say about the film so I'll get right to the point. The acting was by far the worst part of it. The performances were forced, uninspired, and a pain to watch in some places.

That being said, the film at first seemed to be pretty much a mish mash of every other haunting movie, same scare tactics, same suspense builders, same basic idea of ghosts with unfinished business, etc. At first. After the film got going it was obvious that the writers were trying to take things in a different direction, and while overall the film will most definitely be buried amongst all the other "ghost movies" and "haunted house" movies, there was still an original idea or two to be found, and for a fan of the genre it was still worth a view to the end. Most of the plot you could see clear ahead for miles, though, and again the acting really detracted from scenes that would have otherwise been more intense. The script was a bit awkward in spots as well, so I can't blame the actors entirely.

Anyway, if you're teetering on the edge as to whether or not to spend the time or money on the movie, I'd recommend giving it a shot. If you haven't seen many horror films it's definitely worth a watch, and if you have, you might be pleasantly surprised.