★★ 1/2

“Winchester” delivers an anticlimactic end and a less-than-scary story, but it does have great performances that seem to belong in a different movie. “Winchester,” starring Helen Mirren as Sarah Winchester and Jason Clark as Eric Price, delves into a story based on true events regarding the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. and one of the most haunted houses in the world.

Although this film is based on supernatural true events, the embellished points stuck out like a sore thumb and made this horror flick less than entertaining. Revolving around restless spirits lost at the end of Winchester rifles, “Winchester” takes place in San Francisco,and follows Sarah Winchester in her fight to put to rest the souls tormenting her. The only way to do so is to add a room to the Winchester mansion and configure it in a way that makes it an exact replica of the room the victim died in. Once the soul is at peace, the room can be demolished and then started over to appease the next soul in line. However, not all of the souls are silenced so easily and the more troublesome ones linger and cause mayhem. This film follows a specific soul and the chaos it causes within the Winchester family, demonstrating how all life stories usually share a commonality.

Although “Winchester” on its surface level is about a wholesome topic, it doesn’t go many layers deeper than that. Additionally, while the given genre is horror, it is not scary in the slightest and is thrilling at most, making it tame for even the most squeamish of audiences. Even though the film’s plot is lacking, Helen Mirren does an outstanding job of carrying the entire film on her shoulders; her performance is authentic and makes “Winchester” worth a watch.