Introduction
Horror films have always concentrated on a single or two subgenres, and only a few makers have tried to make a concoction of majority of the subgenres and present them into a single film. Well, one such attempt was made more than ten years ago by debutant director Adam Robitel, and all I can say is, it was some serious stuff. Packed with stuff like found footage, supernatural, cannibalism, psych, gore, and even some bits of body horror, this is one of the few films of recent times that can unsettle you without amplified audio or technical leverage. Starring Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, and Michelle Ang in the lead roles, this horror-thriller completes eleven years of it's release today, and while there have been a number of horror flicks that have been produced in this time that are way ahead and more popular than this one (especially those of The Conjuring Universe), this film manages to hold it's ground pretty well.
Note- No spoilers as usual
Basic Plot
A team of students want to create a documentary about Alzheimer's disease and thus, they connect with a lady whose mother is a patient. But somewhere down the line, the students realize that the woman is anything but an Alzheimer patient.
Positives
Performances and Technicalities
What Jill Larson has done in this film is absolutely crazy. I mean, you don't need a ghost to spook people, it's a 67 year old Larson and her tremendous act that is more than enough to give you chills! The way she portrays the character of Deborah Logan is just amazing, which makes you feel that she isn't just acting, but is living the character. It's her sheer presence that sends chills down your your spine, and the scene where she just holds her expression and the camera refuses to move will make you go like: 'yup.. I guess I'm gonna just close my eyes.' She acts like a maniac, pulls off her already disgusting looking blood clotted skin, bleeds herself, only to become normal in the very next shot. Such is the level of acting dynamism shown by Jill Larson here! Anne Ramsay as Sarah Logan (daughter of Deborah Logan) is quite convincing, and plays her part very well. I particularly liked the latter half of her character arc, where she doesn't give up on saving her mother even after becoming an alcohol addict due to mental stress regarding the paranormal stuff she's dealing with. While the film deals her character like an over the top and defiant lady who can go all guns blazing, no matter what happens to her, especially during the climax, her performance in the emotional scenes, and her overall personality, eases that out to align with the film's otherwise realistic treatment. The supporting cast that mainly includes Michelle Ang and Ryan Cutrona does well. It's Cutrona, who surprisingly has an important character between the two and he plays his part really well to justify the on-paper idea.
Genre combination and Screenplay
Director Adam Robitel took things on another level by mish-mashing several popular horror subgenres into this one and presented a platter that is bound to spook you, big time. First things first, it's a found footage film, which significantly improves it's visual aesthetics by giving you that eerie feeling. Hand held camera work, CCTV feed, and normal shots are skillfully blended in a way that they look quite organic to be honest. The director starts with psych, with a subtle nuance of mystery and 'one thing leads to another' format.. transcending into gore, that ultimately leads to the supernatural plot kicking in, and that's where the meaty part lies. And if you think this is it, wait till the ending phase of the film where supernatural and even a tinge of witch-crafting comes into play! While all these may sound too overwhelming to handle and digest, you will be surprised to see how all these undertones have been interconnected with one another, specifically by the screenplay, which allows the film to juggle between them effortlessly without being felt like genre jumping. At a little more than 90 minutes of runtime, the screenplay by Gavin Heffernan and the director himself has worked wonders for all the right reasons. Apart from the unsettling horror that the film offers, that too without cheap jump-scares and adulterated moment build-ups, the core emotional angle is quite strong for a film like this and thus, it works damn well here. Technicalities are quite strong, with the found footage nature leading from the front.. even the editing pattern is nice and so is the directorial call of using invisible CGI, or rather seamless VFX, that makes this film seem all the more real.
Underwhelming Aspects
Plot Sense and reveal
The film is almost devoid of problems for most of the parts but it's during the plot reveal that things go a bit haphazard. The establishment of the villain (who isn't really shown in the film) is done nicely, but the backdrop to the character which also serves as the main crux, needed more seasoning and a bit more cooking as well. For most of the parts, the director has just hinted at what the main plot is, and has left the remaining portion to the intellect of the audience. While this technique works as intended in several other films— for a film like this where a lot is to be dealt with within a significantly brief runtime, it is simply not enough. To make matters weirder, the already fast screenplay picks up pace towards the end and the film becomes increasingly adventurous to a brief extent, which doesn't even let you hit pause for a couple of seconds to pause and just process what really happened to the main plot, after all that build-up. This entire dynamics takes a turn right in the final scene of the film, and while that's quite a savvy way to roll down the curtains— the absence of a sequel even after ten years and such a 'complete' climax doesn't really justify the film's open ending.
Conclusion
Nobody dislikes a tightly packed mystery horror film, and The Taking of Deborah Logan is exactly that. Led by headstrong performances by Jill Larson and Anne Ramsay, this film stacks horror subgenres like supernatural, psych, gore, found footage, cannibalism, and even some touches of witch-crafting and body horror in a single film without being overwhelming for the bottom line audience. This ain't no joke, and when that comes from a debutant director, you know it is not just a mere fluke, but rather, a sheer horror expertise on display! The fact that the film can easily edge out modern day horror flicks even after being eleven years old is some serious hold-up for sure. In spite of some logic and justification issues towards the end of the film, this mystery-horror provides the intended discomfort by managing to get under your skin without a proper jump-scares! A handful but effective dark humor is present in a sporadic nature in the film, and that's fun. Talking about dark humor, a character in the film sighs and says: 'white people and their basements and attics...' well that's a legit reason to sigh in a horror film!
Watch Out For
- Superb Cast Performances
- Horror elements
- Climax
WTF Rating
7.5/10