The Taking

The Taking of Deborah Logan is another possession movie. In that regard you can expect to see the same possession type actions that you'd see in any other possession movie. The Taking of Deborah Logan is done in found-footage or documentary style. Again, you can expect the viewing experience to be the same as any other found-footage/documentary style film. Yet, I still found it entertaining.

Deborah Logan (Jill Larson) is an elderly woman that is suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's disease. In order to help keep the house and pay for medical care her daughter agrees to have a team film her. Everything that happens after that is textbook possession stuff but somehow it was different with an old lady. I think the child possession was too overplayed so they went in a slightly different direction.

There was a mystery element to it: who, why, how to stop it? Of course there were your jump scares, but there was an overriding creepiness to it that was directly linked to Deborah Logan's age. When someone so old, fragile and withering starts clawing at herself or disrobing it just looks so much more eerie. No one wants to see an old lady naked and no one wants to see an old lady peeling her skin off. Aah! I just got the heeby jeebies just thinking about it.

Considering this movie wasn't very unique it was done well enough and it just separated itself enough to stand on its own.

We've had just so many found-footage horrors every year, it's just too much. But not all of them are not worth it. This isn't great or anything, but i was able to achieve some nice scares and develops its central mystery and the development of the characters works. It reminds me a lot of The Last Exorcism (although that was still a lot better). The acting here is pretty strong, and the atmosphere builds well. I'm sure many will love the explosive climax and finale, and although there aren't too many inconsistencies in the story, there are still flaws here and there. But while it doesn't achieve so much greatness, definitely recommended.

The Taking of Deborah Morgan, as you must have gathered by now, is a faux-documentary that begins as a sort of record of deterioration. I can think of no better word than "deterioration", since Deborah Morgan falls apart both mentally and physically over the course of the film. You'll find yourself unnerved and saddened by Deborah's confused states and struggles as she loses her memories to what appears to be Alzheimer's Disease. Of course, things take a sinister turn as the crew cataloging the disease's progression begin to see and hear unexplainable phenomena.

The first half of the film is genuinely terrifying, and had me in suspense.It is the film's second half, which I will not divulge here, that was a bit of a letdown. I really wanted to give the film a higher score, but I couldn't come up with more than a 6. All I will say is this: A horror film with a unique premise and a lot of promise gradually works its way back into the clichés of jump-scare Hollywood.

However, I would be remiss if I did not commend the film for its portrayal of three major female characters (who really carry the film)--a Ph. D. student, a troubled daughter, and Deborah herself-- each one fairly layered and driven by palpable human motivations. The whole "freaked-out, over-sexed bimbo" schtick gets old.

Let me get one thing out first: this was not a great movie. It could be a good movie, but right now I'm such in shock that I don't know how I feel. I don't understand the reviews saying this movie is boring or slow. I felt like it had a very nice pace that kept the story rolling and my interest high.

What I will say is that the biggest detriment to this movie is that it was willing to have its characters make stupid choices in order for the creepy, intense scenes to happen. People often don't turn on lights when they are readily available (or should be, maybe there were unspoken reasons why the lights weren't working?). When Deborah becomes violent and injures people, she is not kept under lock and key until they can figure out how to treat her, rather she is allowed to go home time and again so she can do the same things. And of course, people go into places alone when they shouldn't, and don't call for back up when they should.

That being said, I have to hand it to the filmmakers for creating some of the most intense and effective scaring that I've seen in years. Not even just the finale (I'll get to that later) but intermittently. Not everything works, and not every scare is fresh or original, but quite a few of them hit the mark and had me at the edge of my seat.

And finally the ending. I had read in other reviews that this was quite the doozy, and I have to admit I was in no way, shape, or form prepared. I don't want to over-hype it (although I can't imagine how), but that was something I could not have seen coming, and for the first time in my horror-loving life, I actually had to look away from the screen. The image is still burned in my mind.

I can say that the ending almost made the whole thing worth it, but just for setting up the scary bits I can't rationalize all the stupidity the characters show. As a whole, I don't regret watching "Taking" but it definitely had its flaws.

That ending though...

You deal here with the new kind of cinema as you can find nearly everywhere around the world. And, believe it or not, it works. It makes creeps out of you, don't watch it alone at night...The usual horror story which will always work. But besides, you deal here with astounding Oscar winning worth performances. And this astounding little feature also focuses on the terrible aspects of the Alzheimer disease, especially the pictures shown in the first part of the movie. It is fiction, yes, but not only. It is very scary but also not destined to all audiences. a sort of mix up between THE EXORCIST - old influences, very vintage - and the new wave with the likes of BLAIRWITCH PROJECT or REC or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY...

Don't miss it