Review by Ben Bussey
As horror fans, one question we invariably find ourselves asking of any new movie that comes along – especially when it’s the work of a not-yet established filmmaker – is whether or not they have the requisite genre fan credentials for the job. There has of course never been any shortage of people trying to break into the film industry who decide to give horror a go for no better reason than its relative cheapness and marketability, regardless of the fact that they themselves have no vested interest in the genre. It’s the attitude that’s arguably responsible for at least two thirds of the worthless crap that so often clogs up the pipes of the great horror machine.
However, we can quite safely say that it’s not the case with first-time feature writer/director Rodrigo Gudiño. Given he’s the founding editor of Rue Morgue magazine and the subsequent Rue Morgue media empire, I shouldn’t think anyone will question whether or not this is someone who has chosen to make a horror movie for the wrong reasons. Quite the opposite, in fact: with The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh, Gudiño would appear to have set out to make a film custom designed to appeal to the sensibilities of bona fide horror aficionados – but if you think that means wall-to-wall machetes, naked chicks and entrails, think again. This is a far more subdued affair which places the emphasis squarely on atmosphere, much in the same vein of those classics of understated menace, The Innocents and The Haunting. No, it’s not quite in the same league as either of those time-honoured masterpieces, but damned if it doesn’t make a good stab of it.
Following the death of his mother, Leon Leigh (Aaron Poole) enters the house she has left him for the first time in a long time. As unlikely as it is for returning to the home of your deceased parent to ever be in any way easy, visiting the home of the recently departed Rosalind Leigh is especially jarring, as the whole place is filled up practically top to bottom with religious effigies. (There’s this woman who does TV reality shows in Britain about how to sell your house, who’s infamous for constantly chastising prospective house-sellers for having too much clutter; she’d pass out in shock if she so much as put her foot in the door of Rosalind Leigh’s house.)
But, as you might expect, the house is cluttered with more than just material possessions: it’s a haunted place, in every sense. Having long since been driven away by his mother’s fanatical devotion to an angel-worshipping cult which almost certainly had a part to play in his father’s suicide, his mother’s last letters to her son – which we hear throughout the film in her voice (that of Vanessa Redgrave) – demand that Leon reconnect with the faith that he has long since renounced. Throughout his stay, Leon’s perception of what is or is not real will indeed be challenged – but is it genuinely the presence of his deceased mother he feels in the house, or simply his own memories and unresolved feelings coming back to haunt him? Or is there, indeed, any difference between the two?
So, it’s a guy, in a house, with possible ghosts; you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d seen it all before, and indeed Gudiño’s film does hit plenty of familiar narrative marks. However, the stylistic devices are, at times, something altogether different. Where most films would have opted for flashbacks, or cuts to pseudo-archive news footage to recount past events, Gudiño strings together very distinctive montages of stationary images, empty of human activity: a long shot of a bridge to denote Leon’s father’s suicide, a slow pan across a glass-strewn bar to indicate Leon’s subsequent lifestyle choices. Nor are these the only shots devoid of people, as for the most part this is a one-man show, following Aaron Poole (who does terrific work flying solo) through the Leigh house, his only interactions with others coming through phone conversations, and one visitor at the door who remains unseen. Only in home video footage of the cult to which Rosalind belonged do we see other actors at all.
On top of this, Gudiño is also smart enough to not bog things down with extraneous exposition and backstory. Whilst Vanessa Redgrave’s occasional voiceover provides some context, and Poole’s few conversations with others give us a few more details, it’s very much left to the viewer to pay attention and fill in the blanks – and don’t expect much in the way of clear, definitive answers. I did find myself reminded of Berberian Sound Studio, Peter Strickland’s divisive but – in both mine and Tristan’s view – really quite brilliant film, which also played out an enigmatic scenario in an obtuse manner. Just as Strickland’s film seemed to split audiences right down the middle, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gudiño’s having a similar impact. Questions of faith, the nature of ghosts and the existence/non-existence of the hereafter are prevalent; audience reactions to that subject are always going to be mixed.
But once again – I find it hard to envisage any real horror devotee not being at least a little seduced by The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh, if only for its absolutely sumptous visuals and setting. Samy Inayeh’s cinematography is just beautiful, and they couldn’t have asked for a better location to shoot in: with its wonderfully eccentric architecture and absolute deluge of Gothic treasures and trinkets wherever the lens is pointed, the Leigh house is one that I suspect a great many horror fans wouldn’t mind living in, ghosts and all. Honestly, at times I felt like I was watching a particularly sombre episode of Cribs.
The Last Will & Testament of Rosalind Leigh is released to Region 2 DVD on 5th August, from Metrodome.