A scary and tragic found footage with symbolism and a demonic possession.

• Scare factor: ★★★★☆
• Originality factor: ★★★★★
• Symbolism factor: ★★★★☆
• Possession factor: ★★★★☆
• Body horror factor: ★★★★☆
• Psychological factor: ★★★★☆
• How shaky is the camera: not shaky at all

The Taking of Deborah Logan is a found footage horror that takes a different approach. It uses symbolism to address Alzheimer’s disease and turns a possession into a tragic tale of loss and horror. It stars Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang, Brett Gentile, Jeremy DeCarlos, Ryan Cutrona. It is directed by Adam Robitel. Written by Adam Robitel and Gavin Heffernan. 

Duration 1h 30 min.

Plot

Deborah Logan is an elderly woman who lives alone in a big house and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. She doesn’t want to sell the house, but it’s financially already under water and her daughter Sarah doesn’t know what to do with her. She lets student Mia and her film crew Luis and Gavin film her mother and her in exchange for payment. Deborah’s neighbor Harris doesn’t like the film crew at all and wants them gone. 

At first it seems that the disease is progressing faster than the doctor thought it would. But then strange things start to happen. Things that don’t belong with the pathology of the disease. Deborah starts to act stranger and scarier and Gavin gets so scared that he takes off. 

Things start to get worse and Deborah ends up in the hospital. Sarah doesn’t think that what’s happening to her mother is Alzheimer’s and instead thinks she is possessed. Sarah tries to get help and finds out a terrible truth that can’t be ignored. 

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Short Review

This film isn’t just a standard found footage where students or investigators stumble upon something supernatural and things take their course. It’s a found footage that addresses a terrible disease that crumbles the mind and alters a person. Not only does it affect the patient but also their family. That becomes very clear when Sarah has moved back into her old house for a while to take care of her mother and to decide what to do with this situation. 

Mia’s intentions are good and she really wants to help and learn more about how the disease behaves in real life. She has some medical training to help Sarah out and is really involved with Sarah and Deborah. Gavin is easily scared by both the disease as the possession parts and Luis wants to help as well. 

Sarah’s relationship with her mother is complicated. Sarah is a lesbian and after her mother found out that she was kissing a girl when she was ten years old, she sent her to boarding school. Although there’s much more to that story, which Sarah will find out eventually. Their relationship is strained, but it’s obvious that Sarah loves her mother very much and is determined to deal with the situation in a good way. Deborah is a person that already has lost a lot of herself when we get to know her and she is a mystery the whole film. And it’s not only about the disease but the story is also about her past. 

Most of the time the disease erases a person’s identity by erasing their memories. But sometimes these old memories arise in a clear moment. Buried secrets don’t stay buried and hidden anymore. Old secret start to surface and Sarah is bound to know the truth. 

It’s not only her mental state that is altered but her physical state as well. While her mind deteriorates, something is also happening to her body as well. When you get older that would be quite normal, but in Deborah’s case something strange is happening to her body, due to the demonic possession. It’s hard to watch and quite tragic even more so when it could be easily seen as a metaphor for the deteriorating body and mind. Deborah is losing every aspect of her self. 

The neighbor Harris is an odd man. He cares a lot for Deborah but acts also very strange when the film crew shows up and doesn’t want them there. 

Old secrets. Demonic possession, Alzheimer’s disease, and grieving someone who is still alive are different topics that easily blend together in a film that is as much tragic and sad as it is mysterious and scary. Especially when Deborah’s behavior gets more erratic and scary and leads ups to a surprising but horrifying ending. 

 Although it remains unclear if Sarah was right or not, the final shot can be proof that there is something else going on than Alzheimer’s alone. Although Sarah doesn’t know what is worse. 

The film holds between a mockumentary and a found footage horror film. Gavin and Luis are professional cameramen so their footage isn’t shaky and is actually good footage to watch. But still it gives off found footage vibes while it’s very clear that someone is operating the camera and watches like he is watching a conversation himself or even spying on a conversation or following the events as they evolve. There are also some surveillance camera’s installed in the house to add more footage and give a complete coverage of the events. 

Therefore the film is easy for the eyes, and gives room to focus on what is happening and the symbolism by being taken over completely by something. To be erased as yourself. The film is an intense take on losing yourself, and losing someone you love. 

The Taking of Deborah Logan is tragic, intense and scary at the same time, while addressing heavy themes without losing sight of the supernatural scares.