Director: Adam Robitel
Writers: Adam Robitel, Gavin Heffernan
Stars: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang
AKA: This has two titles, I saw it on Netflix as The Taking, IMDB has it as The Taking of Deborah Logan.
Plot: An elderly woman battling Alzheimer’s disease agrees to let a film crew document her condition, but what they discover is something far more sinister going on.
Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
IMDB Score: 6.0
Why I watched it: I kind of wavered on this one not sure about another found footage movie, ended up watching it because it’s a horror film.
Random thoughts: First off, I guess you can call it a found footage film but it’s about a team making a documentary and they don’t use a lot of the annoying cliches of the typical found footage film. Also the plot says a women is letting them film, it’s her daughter.
What I liked: They take something very topical and something that is real and they give it a horror twist. This movie is really about a grown up daughter taking care of her mother who has Alzheimer’s and that part of the film is well done, they don’t just do lip service to it, you see the pain and the stress it has on the daughter and then when you add the horror element it just ups the stakes. I do think the film has something to say about it’s topic I don’t think they use it solely as a gimmick. There is a hear to this film that I think lifts it a little higher than just a going for cheap frights horror film.
The best part of the movie for me was Anne Ramsey as the daughter, she’s gay and it’s brought up but it’s not a plot point it’s who she is, she has a tough role cause she has to be grounded but stressed, she has to see that this is more than mental illness and she plays this very well, it’s believable.
The film for me work very well as a horror movie and a mystery, the film has twists but not game changers but smart twists that keep you guessing not only what’s going on but why it’s going on. Now it does jump into the kind of supernatural plot that could get silly but they walk the line and it ends up being not silly but very tense. This film is full of atmosphere and dread.
What I Didn’t Like: Really not too much, this was a well made film, you can say it moves a tad slow but I think it works as a slow build, the documentary team could have been fleshed out more and I do wish there was more scenes of mother and daughter before the team gets there. Some of the ending, finale is done in the dark and that can get annoying but I thought they did it alright.
Final Thoughts: I really liked this film, it’s the kind of sleeper that genre fans look for, kind of under the radar, new director, no big names but just solid genre film making.
Final Rating: 7/10.
Movie Burner Entertainment 