The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh

3/4

Starring: Aaron Poole, Julian Richings and the voices of Vanessa Redgrave and Charlotte Sullivan

Not Rated (contains scary moments)

Clearly, writer/director Rodrigo Gudino is a fan of those survival horror video games, specifically the point-and-click ones.  The whole film feels like one of them, from the camera angles to the characters movements.  The lead character finds a clue, solves a puzzle and moves on.  Normally, a video game come to life isn't necessarily a good thing, but those games were all about solving puzzles and clicking things rather than shooting badguys, so not much personal involvement has gone away.

Leon (Poole) has been estranged from his mother Rosalind (Redgrave) ever since the death of his father.  A devout believer in a mysterious sect of Christianity, Rosalind desperately tried to bring Leon into the fold.  Leon wasn't having any of it, and now that she's dead, he intends to sell the place.  But during his night's stay in her creatively decorated house, there are some mysterious things going on.

There isn't a lot of dialogue in this movie; it's all about Leon exploring the house.  Because Gudino doesn't fancy himself an artist and doesn't have an ego the size of Wes Anderson's, this works.  There are no shots of him staring into space.  There is dialogue, but it's sparse; just enough to move the plot along.

The acting is good.  Many of the actors take dual roles (probably to cut down on the film's budget), although this is apparent in one scene.  Aaron Poole has enough presence to get us behind him early on.  Charlotte Sullivan is terrific as Anna, Leon's calming friend.  And Vanessa Redgrave is wonderful as usual (she has a little too much dialogue, but whatever).

This isn't really a movie you'd expect.  It's low-budget and it's basically an extended short film (too short, actually...a few of the more intriguing elements are left unturned).  The creature effects are cool and there is a sense of atmosphere through most of the film.

For a Redbox movie, this is kinda cool.

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