Helen Mirren talks ghosts in new movie 'Winchester'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Helen Mirren made her first ghost story, starring in the new movie "Winchester."

"I wouldn't call it a horror movie. It's a ghost story," Mirren said. "It's based on a real character, Sarah Winchester, who inherited a part of the massive fortune that was amassed by the invention and sale of the Winchester rifle."

So while that left Sarah one of the wealthiest women in the world, she suffered a series of personal losses that would shape the remainder of her life.

After everyone close to her died in a short period of time, she came to believe her family was cursed by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle and that those spirits were haunting her home.

"One of the theories that we explore in the film is that she was trying to placate the ghosts of the people who had been killed by the Winchester rifle. She felt their deaths very strongly. She felt responsible. She felt the weight of their deaths," she said.

Mirren had her own take on whether or not ghosts exist.

"I don't believe in ghosts, per say, although on my wedding night I had a particular experience. But I won't go into it now. It's a very long story," she said.

The movie is rated PG-13 and will be in theaters Friday.