The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

d:  Adam Robitel

s:  Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang, Brett Gentile, Jeremy DeCarlos, Ryan Cutrona, Anne Bedian, Julianne Taylor, Tonya Bludsworth

spfx:  Vincent J. Guastini           

format: NTSC Region:  1  Personal Collection

tagline:  Evil Lives Within You

(out of 5)

     Heard a lot of good things about the Taking of Deborah Logan.  Never expected this movie to live up to my expectations.  Not sure why and when it started I was like aha! because it began like the Last Exorcism with a small group of filmmakers creating a show around a documentary idea.  I thought yeah just a rip off of that.  But no.  In this one instead of knowingly going into a possession atmosphere this group starts out trying to show the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's disease on one Deborah Logan.  It starts out great for them but then things just are not adding up.  The events happening to Ms. Logan are not all Alzheimer's related.   A video captures Deborah doing something she just could not possibly be doing.  Then she is found digging in her garden till her hands bleed, she tries kidnapping a young cancer patient while in the hospital, and she says things in voices and languages that are not her own.  

    The acting in this film was absolutely top notch.  Jill Larson was creepy and scary while at the same time conveying innocence and sorrow, she absolutely nailed her character.  The simple looks combined with the lighting and make-up created a terrifying "creature" of sorts by actress Jill Larson I really cannot stress enough how great this woman's performance was.  And of course Anne Ramsay who is always good in anything I've seen her in, played Deborah's daughter desperate to find of cure for whatever is wrong with her sick mother.  Michelle Ang played the girl leading the documentary interviews and while she was probably the weakest link here that really is no bash because as I said all the acting was on point.   A female strong cast for sure including the sheriff and doctor in the film.   

     The special effects and make-up in this movie were the icing on the cake for making Deborah Logan just plain frightening.  Unlucky for me I saw the ending picture of Ms. Logan in full possessed form which definitely took away from my surprise fright at the end but it was still very scary and for me very scary is hard to come by.  Not because I'm one of these pretentious jackasses who claim they are not scared by anything anymore but because it is hard to be scary when you add in the unoriginal part.  If you've seen it a thousand times then yes I can see things not being super scary...this however at least in my opinion was an original take on the possession genre.  

     Shot like a found footage film without the constant jiggling cameras that seem to make everyone sick.  For me, it is the complete opposite the shakey camera makes it look like I'm holding the camera and therefore realistic and draws me in that much more, but this one doesn't do that a whole lot.  The only hate I've really seen on this movie stems from the found footage haters and I really just shut my ears and eyes once this fact is known in regards to reviews and comments.  The shooting overall was another big seller here, the basement and attic angles, the interview set-ups, and the lighting was perfect.   Just an all around joy of cinematography in my opinion.  The moments where you can just see enough for the fear effect to take hold were superb, especially in a dark room with no light like where I watched it.

     I love found footage films and I love possession films and here like the REC films we have both.  There is also the whole older people freak me the heck out when they are possessed, zombies, etc.  Young kids too and this kind of touches on that but I like leaving some of the story unspoiled.  I loved this movie through and through and this is the second movie this year to make my Halloween marathon cut.