The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh

Director: Rodrigo Gudiño

Starring: Aaron Poole, Vanessa Redgrave
Genre: Horror

Year: 2012

Run Time: 77 Minutes

How: DVD (Redbox)

Usually, horror movies are not my thing, not because they are scary, but mostly because I feel that the vast majority of them are wildly cliche and just plain bad. The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh reaffirms that belief.

As you may have gathered from the title, Rosalind Leigh is dead. She  has left everything to her estranged son Leon (Poole), who has now returned to her predictably creepy house. Cue the classic Scooby-Doo plot line. The house is full of weird objects, one in particular is a giant black mannequin with stark white eyes, another, the shrine conveniently located in the bathroom. Leon's mother (Redgrave) narrates much of the movie, but really fails to set up the plot. We spent a fair portion of the movie trying to figure out her relationship to Leon and why Leon would stay in the strange house without any real incentive. Leon, of course stays alone in his childhood home, only be scared by the old house and left questioning his sanity.

Leon's parents were part of a strange angel worshiping cult, as seen by the plethora of angel statues found in the house. Leon has rejected his parents faith, which why his mother believes hes no longer "protected by the angels."  Leon's father died as part of a cult suicide, something that is featured several times throughout the film, though it seems more a triviality than belabored plot point.

Poole's character is cold and unengaging, which is unfortunate since he is essentially the only one in the entire film. Oddly enough, he is completely calm as he's being terrorized by a Gollum looking creature.  He also seems too young to be the son of the Rosalind who only appears in pictures, which leads to some confusion. Leon is an underdeveloped character who gives us little reason for us to to care what happens to him. As Aaron gets more and more creeped out by the house, we cant help but wonder, why doesn't he just leave. 

If you are looking for scares, The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh does not deliver. The film does, however, deliver plenty of run of the mill tension, achieved through long shots which have you searching for something to jump out. Despite the creepy house, there are maybe only two instances that might make you jump. The movie commits too many of the classic horror faux pas and has no real ending, which is just laziness on the part of writer/director Rodrigo Gudiño. The film is slow, not scary, and ultimately accomplishes very little.

Rating: 2.5