The Taking Of Deborah Logan
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 this one brings a certain aspect that 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 disease and how her and her daughter Sarah(Anne 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 a awkward foot but as things go along they all find that everything isn’t what it seems.
The main plot of the movie is something that a lot of people can relate too with an ailing family member going through an similar situation( I myself witnessed an 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 a stellar performance as Deborah Logan how she plays the character is done with great balance and you found yourself feeling for this woman as she is going threw everything. Larson’s performance reminded me to that of Ashley Bell’s in The Last Exorcism, both did great jobs with their eyes which told alot about what was going on with them instead of what words could have done.
Anna Ramsay as concerned daughter Sarah gives a very real turn here as she is a very strong character and goes to any length to save her mother. I think had a lesser actress took on this part the movie would’ve fell apart and in the climax of the film i felt myself rooting for her to succeed.
Michelle Ang, Brett Gentile, 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 in some of the tense situations where they are searching around the house for Deborah.
If there were some complaints about the film they would have to be the found footage style itself. Since I’m not a fan of this style of film making, I will never be on board when I find myself being taken out of a lot of moments in the film particularly the ones during the finale in the miners 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.
I 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 interesting all the way through till the final moments.
