Back in the early part of the millennium, a friend and I watched a documentary entitled American Movie. The film chronicled the mishaps of writer/actor/director Mark Borchardt as he attempted to complete work on Coven (which, according to Borchardt is pronounced “coe-ven” because otherwise, it sounds like oven “and that’s just…it doesn’t work”), a horror film he’d began years earlier and had never gotten around to finishing. In the spirit of Ed Wood, he decided that a horror film would be a great stepping stone to securing financing on Northwestern, a project he wanted to get off the ground (and still wants to as of this writing as it is listed as “in production” since 2000). Included in the special features section on the American Movie DVD was Borchardt’s completed version of Coven and I recall that my friend and I were eager to watch and see exactly how bad it turned out based on what we’d seen in the movie.
And you know what? It wasn’t half bad. We both agreed that as a writer and director, Borchardt just couldn’t pull things together to tell a coherent story…but visually, it was impressive and evoked the mood of the original Night of the Living Dead. He knew how to establish a great shot and create atmosphere; he just wasn’t adept at moving a story forward in an interesting manner.
I thank you for bearing with me and shared that tale only because that was the exact same feeling I had after watching Rodrigo Gudino’s The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh.
The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh is the first major film released by Rue Morgue Cinema, which is basically Rue Morgue magazine, a popular horror publication out of Toronto that covers movies, books, TV, music, and anything else related to the genre. The plot of the film revolves around Leon Leigh (Aaron Poole, BBC America’s Copper), an antiques collector who inherits a house from his late, estranged mother (the voice of Vanessa Redgrave) and experiences bizarre occurrences while staying there.
It seems that Leon’s mother and father were somehow involved with an angelic cult that may or may not have driven his father to suicide many years before. While going through the house, Leon realizes that his mother has built a shrine to the cult and filled the house with angelic imagery, including a statue with which she used to torture her son and force a belief in God. During his brief stay, he encounters a strange neighbor who warns him of a “sick animal” loose in the neighborhood, speaks with his ex-girlfriend for reassurance and guidance when his sanity starts to crack, and, finally, meets the aforementioned “sick animal” that just might be after his very soul.
The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh is visually appealing as Gudino knows what to do with the camera, swooping through both the inside and outside of the house while maintaining a claustrophobic atmosphere in Poole’s one man show. He successfully sets up the tale from the film’s opening, giving the audience all it needs to know about Leon’s history through a well constructed montage. However, it does take six minutes to reach the end of said montage which feels like little more than visual padding to stretch the film to its already scant 80 minute running time.
While there are some genuinely creepy moments peppered throughout (the scenes with the “sick animal”, the figures on the lawn, and the voice on the Communicate with the Dead tape easily come to mind), The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh is ultimately disappointing. Gudino, who also wrote the film and is the editor of the wonderful Rue Morgue magazine, has a great eye but is unable to take an interesting idea and see it through until the end. The hour and twenty minute run time seemed appealing as a late Saturday night movie on Netflix, but I often felt as if it ran about three hours (of course Netflix seemed to have buffering issues and the streaming would come to a screeching halt every now and again, but that proved to be torturous solely because I wanted the movie to end). During the first half hour, my mind kept wandering back to the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and George try to sell a show about nothing to NBC and Russell Dalrymple (Bob Balaban) contends that “Something has to happen!” because, well, nothing really happened.
And the rest? Gudino seems to want to create a dreamlike state where events may or may not be real so the entire film is somewhat of a muddled mess. Is Leon really talking to unseen neighbors or anyone on the phone? Are the threatening shadows looming over him intent on doing harm or simply a figment of his imagination? Does the angelic cult have a point? Does anything?
Beats me.
I’d be interested to see what Gudino does with more solid material in the future, perhaps even taking on someone else’s screenplay where he can use his visual talents to enhance a story rather than attempt to create one out of thin air.
There are tons of movies I’d recommend over this one but if you’re looking for a brief, interesting diversion, give The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh a shot for both the visuals and Aaron Poole’s terrific performance.
Grade: C-
This Old Haunted House 