SYNOPSIS OF “THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN”

Mia Medina has finally found the perfect subject for her PhD thesis film on Alzheimer’s Disease.  For the next several months, cameras will record the everyday life of mother Deborah Logan and her daughter Sarah.  But as the days progress, strange things begin to happen around Deborah that are not consistent with any findings about Alzheimer’s.  It becomes apparent that there’s something besides Alzheimer’s that has taken control of Deborah’s life.  It’s an evil that is far worse than the debilitating disesase with which she was first diagnosed.”

It’s become quite apparent in the horror industry that “found footage” horror movies are saturating the market.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love the found footage genre (ex. Quarantine, Paranormal Activity, Grave Encounters) but it just seems as though more and more of these movies are coming out and they are all the same.  I’m not saying that “The Taking of Deborah Logan” is an amazing film, but what I did like about it is it based the movie around a possession of a much older individual (someone in their mid-60’s) and it’s something that I haven’t really seen in a horror movie before.

There is something really unsettling about watching someone, especially an elderly individual, descend into a place that they are clearly never going to come out of.  I think it was interesting that they used Alzheimer’s as a platform to possession.  As horrible as Alzheimer’s is, I thought it was smart that they used it because it’s such a debilitating disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills – and possessions (at least shown in movies) have very similar symptoms.  I definitely thought this whole theme in the movie was creepy and watching her descent into her “possession” was disturbing – especially when her appearance changed from happy/fresh faced to ragged/thin/sick/hair loss etc.

What I did like about the movie is that it wasn’t a typical possession movie – meaning that it wasn’t religious based (though they touched upon religion 2 or 3 times) – I found that to be really refreshing.  Also, she used art to treat her Alzheimer’s and as she got worse and you realized she was possessed her art work changed and she started painting a sinister figure.  Lastly, I LOVED part of the ending.  I’m not going to give away anything but I’m always a fan of jaw detachment lol.

With all that said, I would probably watch the movie again.  It of course followed a lot of typical “found footage” themes and scares.  If you get the chance to watch it, I would suggest giving it a shot – especially since it is unique to the genre.  Here is my rating:

THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN

Concept/Story: 1
Style/Effect:  1
Originality:  2
Scares:  1
Rewatchability: 1
TOTAL:  6/10