Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
PiraBit
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Billie Morin
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
arthurwade-18694
Docu films are passe and even if they aren't they should be exceptionally well made- which The Taking of Deborah Logan is not. At least Paranormal activity managed to be scary but this film proves that the home video/documentary horror should be buried six feet under. (Avoid it and rent The Exorcist instead).
SnoopyStyle
Mia Medina, Gavin, and Luis arrive to do a documentary about Deborah Logan suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She's still functioning but her condition seems to be deteriorating. She lives with her daughter Sarah Logan (Anne Ramsay) in an old mansion. As the group films, Deborah starts to deteriorate but something more is going on.This is a faux documentary horror. There is a slow build which leaves most of the early parts of the movie lacking in tension. In the end, the standard problem of most horrors is ever present. The film crew is not strictly tied to the situation. They could leave at any time. The only thing truly holding them is the desire to make the film. That limits the intensity giving them a large exit route. The found footage is done well which gives an amateurish feel while giving a full viewing of the situation. It's not scary and I'm getting tired of this genre. This one is fine as long as you still find this stuff enjoyable.
deepblue501
This review will be brief. Which does not mean that the movie is bad. On the contrary, the taking of Deborah Logan is one of the most scary and best horror movies I have seen in years, easily at par with Rec, which I consider another gem of the last 20 years.It's in the found-footage genre, but as opposed to many other horrors it does not use cheap thrills and the same endless clichés of horror movies, which strongly benefits the narrative and the tense nature of the movie. Instead of, for example, relying on children that are scary or demonic appearances, this movie relies on an ultra-realistic atmosphere (including normal surroundings, police, hospital, everybody being a witness of somebody scary happening instead of only the protagonist etc etc) and an intelligent scenario about a women of about 50-60 years old that is quickly loosing her mind due to Alzheimer. The acting of both female protagonists (the Alzheimer mother and her daughter) is superb and very convincing. The lack of cheap thrills actually enhances this movie but simultaneously strays away from the boring extended build-ups with nothing really happening that is so common in modern-day horror cinema (for example: House of the Devil, the Witch etc.). It is thus an action-packed but not extremely fast movie with superb acting and some horrifying scenes. Everything is balanced, even realistic you could say (up to a certain point) and for me the Taking turned out to be an unexpected pleasure. Hopefully there will be more where that came from!
DBLurker
People are whining about Alzheimer patients being exploited, but the only exploitation related to Alzheimer is some old people shown in hospital in the beginning. After that bit, the movie becomes more about possession, forgetting Alzheimer altogether.So let's ignore the Alzheimer, just like movie did, and focus on supernatural stuff this movie throws at the viewer.From "hidden" cameras recording a creepy patient (played well by the actress) to people doing irrational things compared to what normal (real) people would do, this movie has it all. In-fact the only person that acts rationally is one of the documentary crew who decided to leave it all after witnessing supernatural stuff happening, and we never see him again. Wise guy.Rest of the movie is filled with creepy moments, which are then let down by the Jill Larson's character (mom) doing some of THE most mundane things when the camera closes up on her, or sometimes, not doing anything. Instead, the movie relies on quick cuts to scenes with loud noises, included her screaming, to jump "scare" the viewer.. which didn't work on me at all so THAT was fun..Same goes for hidden cameras, which are referenced twice when they CLEARLY show supernatural stuff happening, but are then ignored and never mentioned by the characters. No one even bothers showing the priest the footage when asking for help, FFS.Ignoring all that, I bumped up the rating to 7 from 4 for the last moments. They were well shot, mimicking Blair Witch properly and in a really creepy reveal at the end.Anyway, in the end, movie copies bits and pieces from Paranormal Activity (camera setups showing "spooooky" stuff happening) and Blair Witch (whole last sequence, surprise surprise, it still works) and only Blair Witch moments end up being creepy, which shouldn't come as a surprise to people who loved Blair Witch.This movie is worth watching. 7/10