Powerful

Please don't spend money on this.

Memorable, crazy movie

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Little to no cgi. All scares. Really enjoyed how often I was caught off guard.

I am a very big fan of low budget horror films. The limitations foisted on a tiny budgeted project often give it an intimacy and requirement to focus on characters vastly outweighs any constraints caused by lack of spectacle. And yet it is undeniably pleasurable once in a while to enter into a full-blown, richly visual, production that few million quid can bring, as opposed to a few thousand.Jason Clarke as Dr Henry Price, Helen Mirren as Sarah Winchester, Sarah Snook (who was so good as the title character in 2014's 'Jessabelle') as Marion Marriot and Finn Scicluna-O'Prey as Henry Marriot. Terrific performances from the these main players, and Henry is a very convincing 'possessed child', even though we don't get to know the character beforehand and therefore cannot truly embrace the transition.Against that, we get standard scowling zombie-types, disappointing CGI cartoons and an early over-reliance on jump/shock moments in place of the atmospheric horror 'Winchester' seemed to promise. Equally, the dénouement is lacklustre. A kind of horror story standardised by a Disney-filter. The casting is, I think, what saves this - and there are some nice, sweeping directorial touches from The Spierig Brothers that time, money and a measure of innovation can bring.I'm not using this review as an excuse to extoll the virtues of low-budget cinema. I enter into these horror films with an open mind and a real willingness to enjoy them. And while this is good, it is far from great. It smacks of 'chills for the masses', with no real urge to repulse, shock or unduly frighten the widest possible demographic.

This was an entertaining film with loads of scares to deliver. But it's difficult to like it much when the plot becomes impossible to believe on some level. For it to be effective, something about the characters need to realistic. Henry is possessed by the vengeful spirit and shoots Sarah point blank with a rifle, but she's not even injured after he tries to strangle her afterwards. The doctor claims to have been dead three minutes and revived to life. Where in 1900's America could that have ever happened? I don't see why it takes Australians to come up with movies about famous Americans like Tonya Harding, Sarah Winchester or Ted Kennedy. Couldn't George Clooney be interested in a project like that?

This movie is boo boo.. so bad.. don't watch it.. don't waste your time