The Taking Of Deborah Logan(2014)

"Some things just can't be explained"


PLOT
What starts as a poignant medical documentary about Deborah Logan's descent into alzheimer's disease and her daughter's struggles as the caregiver degenerates into a maddening portrayal of dementia at its most frightening, as hair raising events begin to plague the family and crew and an unspeakable malevolence threatens to tear the very fabric of sanity from them all.


REVIEW

Some things just arent what they seem...The Taking of Deborah Logan is another on a long list of found footage style films that have been released in recent years.

The majority of them have not been worth watching, but this one would be on the most watch list, as someone who isn't a huge fan of found footage films but this one brings a certain aspect that most of the others don't seem to possess(no pun intended)

What starts off as a normal documentary about the daily life of Deborah Logan(Jill Larson) who has been diagnosed with the beginning stages of Alzheimer and how her and daughter Sarah (Anna Ramsay) deal with her changing behavior . For film crew Mia (Michelle Ang), Gavin (Brett Gentile) and cameraman Luis (Jeremy DeCarlos) things start out somewhat on an awkward foot but as things go along they all find that everything isn't what they seem.

The main plot of the movie is something that a lot of people can relate too with an ailing family member going through a similar situation (I myself witnessed a grandparent go through Alzheimer) Deborah when being herself is a nice sweet woman, but when the other side takes over she becomes something very sinister.

I happened to like the overall tone of the movie and how things steadily built and the story unfolded, Jill Larson gives an stellar performance as Deborah Logan how she was able to play the character with great balance, you find yourself feeling for this woman as she is going through everything, Larson's performance reminded me of Ashley Bell's similar turn in The Last Exorcism, both did excellent jobs with their eyes that tells more about what exactly is going on with the characters then words could describe.

Anna Ramsay as concerned daughter Sarah gives a very true to life turn here as she is a strong character and goes to any length to save her mother, I think had an lesser actress took on this part the movie would have fell apart and in the climax of the film I felt myself rooting for her to succeed.

Michelle Ang, Brett Gentile, and Jeremy DeCarlos give fine performances as well, my favorite of the 3 was DeCarlos as Luis, he was the character I felt myself connecting with the most and even though he has the least amount on screen time, most of his lines are some of the best especially during tense situations where they searching around the house for Deborah.

If there were some complaints about the film they would have to be the found footage style of filmmaking. I will never be on board with it when I find myself being taken out of a lot of moments in the film particularly the ones during the finale in the miner where everything is dark and the camera is shaking around, every found footage movie does this and I really don't like it. I never get why its done and why/how this is supposed to make things better from an viewing standpoint.

Despite my feelings towards the found footage style I do recommend this film to anyone who likes a good story with true to life characters and some really good performances by Jill Larson, Anna Ramsay and an overall good horror suspense thriller with good effects and tense moments that will keep viewers interested all the way through the final moments.

MY RATING 7/10


CAST
Jill Larson-Deborah Logan
Anna Ramsay- Sarah
Michelle Ang- Mia
Brett Gentile- Gavin
Jeremy DeCarlos-Luis
Ryan Cutrona-Harris
Anne Bedian- Dr. Nazier
Tonya Bludsworth- Deputy Linda Tweed
Julianne Taylor-Cara