An effective spook-house thriller, Winchester benefits from a unique setting and an all-in performance from Helen Mirren.

Amityville Horror. The Shining. The Haunting. Often, the best haunted house movies feature a vital character key to its success: the house itself. Whether blood seeping down the walls, fire spreading across a staircase, or that all important chandelier shaking without warning, the house is a living, breathing, beast of a thing, designed to do more than go “bump” in the night. It’s designed to drive you mad and steal your soul.

Winchester has a doozy of a haunted house, a bizarre piece of architecture that has established itself in horror legend. It is that very house that takes centre stage in Winchester, the fifth film from Australian director duo Michael and Peter Spierig, and while they can’t match the haunted house horror hijinks of fellow Aussie James Wan’s The Conjuring, there are enough creeks, bumps and jump-scares to keep things lively.

Set in 1906, Winchester begins with psychiatrist Dr Eric Price (Jason Clarke) hired by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company to assess the mental state of Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren). She is the grieving wife of company founder William Winchester, who after his death received $20 million in inheritance and majority ownership of the company. Convinced she is haunted by the spirits killed by the Winchester rifle, Sarah uses her vast wealth to create a sprawling, non-sensical mansion to appease the ghosts that plague her day and night. Initially certain of Sarah Winchester’s insanity, Dr Price quickly comes to realise her demons are much, much more sinister than once thought.

There is much to like with Winchester. The Spierig Brothers bring a great sense of mood to the proceedings, perfectly pacing their scenes of dread like conductors of terror leading their audience to the eventual jump scare. This is where the strength of the film, the mansion itself, truly shines with its unpredictable, twisty, and down right maddening structure, prime for the kind of horror movie where the thought of what is hiding behind the corner conjuring all kinds of horrific imaginings.

Whether Winchester lives up to those imaginings is up for debate. In some moments their ghostly constructs have enough of a creep factor that delivers the chills. Yet the deeper its story delves, the less effective become these poltergeists salivating revenge for post wrongs.

Thankfully, the performances from Jason Clarke and especially Helen Mirren keep things lively. While the dramatic depth of Winchester runs into shallow waters, Mirren keeps things afloat in her turn as a woman who gained the world along with the demons within and beyond it. Draped in black and pale in complexion, Mirren makes a striking figure of classic horror iconography. The Spierig’s did a great job in casting the Oscar winner. Mirren does an even better one at keeping their ghost tale afloat.