Film Preview: Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built (2018)

Page Revisions:

(October 29, 2017) Original
(January 7, 2018) New Trailer (#2) / New Poster (#2) / Updated Title (changed form “Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built”)

Release Date:

February 2, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Eccentric firearm heiress believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.”

Poster Rating: C / B- / D

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Review: (#1) For a movie about the massive, creepy Winchester House, this is a surprisingly dull and predictable design.

(#2) Oooh. A haunting figure in a lighted window. It’s actually rather dull and the entire house being so darkly lit make for a spooky, but not particularly enticing, look. (#3) The widow in full visage. This is too dark and dreary for its own good and Helen Mirren’s face is hidden enough to almost make it unrecognizable. Those factors combined make for a design that has nothing to do with the house and may have nothing to do with selling tickets.

Trailer Rating: B- / B

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Review: (#1) Although the focus is on horror, the fascination should be with the house and Helen Mirren’s presence in a Haunted House horror thriller. Whether this is a true exploration of the mysterious construction and design of the house, the trailer doesn’t give sufficient details to help a potential viewer recognize that that’s the case, which could be problematic.

(#2) There’s a new creepiness to this second trailer that makes this feel like your typical haunted house drama, with a talented lead to guide you along the way. There’s a lot of convention presented in the trailer, so it might not generate the kind of appeal the producers desire.