By

Winchester

The San Jose tourist attraction Winchester Mystery House is a sprawling collection of architectural oddities, built with no apparent master plan by the mad widow of the rifle maker. Of course it’s inevitably rumored to be haunted by the spirits of those killed by the gun maker’s guns. Australia’s Spierig brothers (who made the vastly […]

The San Jose tourist attraction Winchester Mystery House is a sprawling collection of architectural oddities, built with no apparent master plan by the mad widow of the rifle maker. Of course it’s inevitably rumored to be haunted by the spirits of those killed by the gun maker’s guns. Australia’s Spierig brothers (who made the vastly superior Predestination) thought they could base a good horror movie on this. Instead they came up with this pointless, lazy misfire that substitutes non sequitur “boo” moments for suspense or dread, and criminally wastes the time and talents of Helen Mirren. (99 min, from June 29)