Oct 22, 2013

Day 22: The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh (2012)

Can a once-prolific blogger who hasn't written 31 posts all year find it in his soul to review 31 previously unseen horror films in 31 days of October? Let's find out...

Added bonus: This blog post is a part of Final Girl's Film Club. Check our Stacie Ponder's blog for other reviews of this film, and for cutting edge commentary on world politics. Or, ya know, other things.
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Available on both Amazon Prime Instant and Netflix Instant. It's Instantly available, this instant! Go, go, GO!!!

I went into this flick having no freakin' idea what it was about. I was thinking ghosts or demonic possession, but I really had no clue. I did know that Vanessa Redgrave did the voice-over work, so I'm already horny. I said it.

An antiques dealer has inherited an old house from his recently deceased mother. The house is filled with all kinds of creepy and cool artifacts, something an antiques dealer should just adore. But it's the creepy factor that makes him uneasy. He soon discovers that his mother had turned her home into some kind of shrine for some kind of religious cult. And she is trying to reach out to him through some of the creepy items in the house to give him some kind of urgent message. We are off to the fucking races, folks.

I have a hard time disassociating myself with an actor that I've only seen in one other role. Aaron Poole stars in this one, and the only thing I've ever seen him in is the excellent series Copper from BBC America. He played a Confederate spy in that at the end of the American Civil War who conspired to burn down New York City. So I kept on thinking of him as that openly villainous type of character while I was watching this. It was a little distracting, for me. Maybe I just wanted him to die. Oops...

There are all these creepy angel statues all over the house and grounds. And I kept expecting them to all of a sudden open up their creepy statue eyes or something. Guess what happens? Spoiler alert: creepy statue eyes open. You see it coming from a mile away, and it's still creepy. Because creepy statue eyes are fucking creepy. I am hereby banned from using the word "creepy" any more in this review.

I don't know. The film seemed really short and without any kind of important ending or high point, but you can feel free to disagree. It was certainly well-made, but I'm not sure what the point of it really was. I was honestly expecting and hoping for more. As it is, it just left me...wanting. I think I get what really happened, or didn't happen. Didn't happen is the most likely theory, but you can decide that for yourself.

Best way to watch the film is in a dark house with a glass of good whiskey. Because you know the whiskey is gonna be good. The movie...well, I guess that's up to you.

Verdant Dude rating: 2 out of 5 pumpkins

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