The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA has ignited the imaginations of tourists and paranormal enthusiasts for decades. Commissioned by the eccentric heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune in 1884, she believed that its continued construction would keep her alive forever – but, of course, after nearly forty years of building 160 rooms and staircases that went nowhere, mortality got the best of old Sarah Winchester. Since then, the mansion has become a popular attraction, mostly due to the belief that it’s haunted by the victims of her family’s invention.
Now its story will get the big screen treatment, thanks to Hammer. The studio recently optioned the rights to develop a feature based on the legendary estate and its ghostly heritage. Producing are Imagination Design Works and Nine/8 Entertainment, and while the project is in its nascent stages, Imagination said that the plot could involve “Sarah’s spirit will be brought back to life” by working on the house’s premises.
The property is already attached to Haunting Of Winchester House, a 2009 film by schlockmeisters The Asylum. However, the company – known for making terrible knockoffs of popular Hollywood films and memorable titles like Mega Python Versus Gatoroid – didn’t secure rights to the story and were sued for unlawful use. Hopefully with Hammer, who recently found success with the well-received gothic thriller The Woman In Black, the Winchester story could see a more respectful adaptation.
Have you ever been to the Winchester Mystery House? Do you think its story will make an interesting movie?