Review by Quin
When I was little, I remember my parents taking me to a convalescent home for the elderly, to visit a family friend who was in the final stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. I had grown up knowing this man. I remember him working in the garden and I remember that he had cats. But when I saw him that day in his hospital bed, he had no idea who I was and it filled me with a feeling that I still remember to this day. I wasn’t scared of him, but I felt very strange. Thirty years later, I haven’t known anyone else who has been afflicted with the disease, but that strange feeling stays with me.
The Taking of Deborah Logan puts a supernatural spin on the horrors of Alzheimer’s. It is indeed a found footage film, but different from what we typically see over and over again. The film is comprised of footage shot for a medical documentary made by a medical student. She has been given permission to bring a film crew into the home of Alzheimer patient Deborah Logan, by Deborah’s daughter, to shoot footage and interview them about living with the disease. What follows is predictable, but how it all happens before our eyes is fascinating and engaging.
The Taking of Deborah Logan has some truly shocking moments. But it does an amazing job of going from subtle and nice to those shocking moments. When we first meet Deborah, she is working in the garden and she seems to have all of her faculties. She smiles, she’s polite – but she makes it clear that she is not interested in being exploited. It is here we learn that the filmmaker had a relative with Alzheimer’s, so the subject hits close to home for her and she has every intention of being respectful. Almost immediately, Deborah begins to have second thoughts about the documentary and sends the film crew away. Her daughter convinces her that she should take part in the film and since they are in financial trouble, the money they receive for being in the documentary would be help them tremendously. Two weeks later, filming resumes.
Everything about the documentary feels authentic. The medical student explains the science behind Alzheimer’s (which I won’t repeat – I couldn’t if I wanted to) complete with graphics and diagrams as well as photos of real patients at various stages of the disease. The interviews with Deborah and her daughter are great as well. We learn so much about who they are as well as some of the things that Deborah is beginning to forget. The progression of her disease is seen through moments where she loses her temper and becomes violent to quietly bizarre details like when she is seen holding a snake in her garden. The tension with the film crew members escalates and becomes a driving force for more outbursts until things spiral completely out of control.
The acting in this film is great. Jill Larson, primarily known for her work on the soap opera All My Children, is so convincing as a woman with Alzheimer’s Disease. Her physical transformation is also worth noting. She had a role in the film Shutter Island where she had to look creepy, but in The Taking of Deborah Logan she goes from sympathetic to downright horrifying. When she’s not hiding in the dark, her face is one that will probably give you nightmares. Her jump scares are many, but they are well-done and necessary. Her daughter, played by another actress known for her television work – Anne Ramsay – is also wonderful. She has clearly gone very deep when creating this character, she feels like a truly fleshed-out human being with flaws and incredible pain, but also a brave face for her mom whom she loves.
The Taking of Deborah Logan is so much more than a found footage film, or even a horror film. It feeds on our fears of death and of losing our mind, while at the same time taking us down a path that is evil and sinister. Some of it is quite fun, but it’s mostly just scary. It’s the kind of scary where closing your eyes doesn’t really help. You’ll still see Deborah Logan’s face with her glowing eyes and her teeth stained with blood. Which it just so happens, that’s right where I like my horror. If you do too, you’ll want to see this one.
The Taking of Deborah Logan is available on region 1 DVD and digital download from Millennium Entertainment and it is streaming on Netflix in the US.