The Taking of Deborah Logan

Last updated
The Taking of Deborah Logan
The Taking of Deborah Logan.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Adam Robitel
Written by
Produced by
  • Jeff Rice


Starring
CinematographyAndrew Huebscher
Edited by
  • Gavin Heffernan
  • Adam Robitel
Music byHaim Mazar
Distributed by
Release date
  • October 21, 2014 (2014-10-21)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Taking of Deborah Logan is a 2014 American found footage supernatural horror film, which serves as the feature film directorial debut of Adam Robitel, who co-wrote the screenplay and edited the film with Gavin Heffernan. The film stars Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay and Michelle Ang. [1] Set in Virginia, it tells the story of a documentary crew making a film about Alzheimer's patients who uncover something sinister while documenting a woman who has the disease. The film was produced by Jeff Rice and Bryan Singer and was released on October 21, 2014.

Contents

Plot

Mia Medina, Gavin, and Luis are a team of students who want to create a documentary about Deborah Logan, an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease living with her daughter, Sarah. As the film crew records her daily life, Deborah starts to exhibit increasingly bizarre actions that her personal physician states are normal for someone with an aggressive form of Alzheimer's. However, cameraman Luis begins to notice that her actions defy normal explanations and expresses concern that something supernatural is occurring. Things grow more tense after Luis and Gavin record audio of Deborah speaking in French, talking about sacrifices and snakes. They notice that the line for 337 at her switchboard continually rings; the line belonged to local physician Henri Desjardins, who disappeared after a series of cannibalistic ritualized murders of four young girls. Deborah's behavior becomes so extreme that she is hospitalized for her own safety. Dismayed, Gavin quits the film.

The others discover that Desjardins was supposedly trying to recreate an ancient Monacan ritual that would make him immortal but required the deaths of five girls that recently had their first period. They wonder whether Deborah is possessed by Desjardins. Sarah, Mia and Luis discover that Deborah had unsuccessfully tried to abduct Cara Minetti, a young cancer patient. At the hospital, Harris Sredl, Deborah's friend, visits her and she begs him to kill her. He tries to comply but is knocked out by the entity possessing her. Sarah learns from Harris that years ago, Deborah found out that Desjardins planned to use Sarah as his fifth victim. It had prompted her to murder the doctor before he could accomplish his plan, and she buried his body in the yard. The group finds the body's remains and tries to burn them, but fails when Desjardin's spirit intervenes.

Deborah succeeds in abducting Cara and taking her to the location where Desjardins had killed his previous victims. After discovering Deborah has gone into the mines, Sheriff Linda Tweed follows behind, only to be killed. Sarah and Mia find Deborah as she is trying to swallow Cara's head in a snake-like manner and manage to burn Desjardins' corpse. Sarah and the re-conscious Deborah reunite. The film then cuts to news footage of reporters stating that Deborah was deemed unfit to stand trial for her crimes and abduction of Cara, her health having deteriorated rapidly in the months following the incident. Cara has overcome her cancer and is celebrating her 10th birthday. As the reporter begins to wrap up the story, Cara turns to the camera and gives a sinister smile, implying that Desjardins is now possessing her.

Cast

Production

The filming took place in Charlotte Region, North Carolina and Creative Network Studios. Additional stunt doubles were used in place of Mia, Deborah and others. Vincent Guastini did the special effects. He said that he was impressed with the script and wanted to work with the filmmakers. He described his relationship with Robitel as "truly a collaborative effort". He agreed with Robitel's choice to limit the amount of footage seen of the transformation, as he felt this "added more believability and truth". [2]

Release

The Taking of Deborah Logan released via electronic sell-through on October 21, 2014 and was followed by releases on video on demand and DVD on November 4, 2014. [3]

Reception

The film holds an 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 11 critics, and the average score is 6.40/10. [4]

Ain't it Cool News called it "found footage done right... one of the most effective entries in the popular subgenre" [5] while The Wrap named it a "Netflix Horror Gem", calling the film "one of the freshest entries in American possession horror". [6] Nerdist and Dread Central both wrote mostly positive reviews for the film, [7] with Dread Central commenting that while the film would not appeal to everyone, "if you're looking for a spooky little film that's free of pretension and sometimes logic and are into getting some quick shivers, you really cannot go wrong". [8] In contrast, Bloody Disgusting panned the film, stating that it was unduly derivative of other similarly themed works to be truly effective and that other than a specific scene near the end, "the film brings nothing new to the table". [9]

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References

  1. ↑ McDonald, Marlan. "The Taking Of Deborah Logan Looks Like A Devilish Delight In New Clip". Movie Pilot. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Barton, Steve (12 February 2015). "Vincent Guastini Shows Off The Taking of Deborah Logan Effects". Dread Central . Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  3. ↑ unclecreepy (2014-10-22). "Exclusive Taking of Deborah Logan Clip Is Scaring Me". Dread Central. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  4. ↑ "The Taking Of Deborah Logan (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  5. ↑ "AICN HORROR looks at STARRY EYES! SCAREHOUSE! DOCTOR & THE DEVILS! DOLLS! GINGERCLOWN!".
  6. ↑ Gilman, Greg (31 October 2014). "'The Taking of Deborah Logan' Is a Netflix Horror Gem: 7 More Awesome Picks For Halloween Weekend". The Wrap. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Weinberg, Scott. "REVIEW: THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN". Nerdist. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Barton, Steven (2014-10-14). "Taking of Deborah Logan, The". Dread Central. Retrieved 2014-10-31.
  9. ↑ Cooper, Patrick (6 October 2014). "[Review] 'The Taking of Deborah Logan' Is Creatively Bankrupt". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
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