The Taking Of Deborah Logan (2014)

Affecting performances and fully realized characters.

Not at all original or distinctive in this volatile genre's ever-changing standards, but it is cautious, well-made and so driven by believable performances that it earns more respect than one might have assumed it deserves.

An unexpectedly solid little horror flick that gets a lot more interesting the longer you give it.

Review soon.

You know what's one of my favorite parts of using Netflix? Discovering films, from any genre, whose existence I was vaguely aware of, if at all, that end up being great. It's even more satisfying when it ends up being a horror movie. Personally, I had seen this film's RottenTomatoes page a while ago but, other than that, I had no real knowledge of this film prior to watching it. Let's just say that what we ended up getting might be one of the most satisfying horror movies of the year, from a visual standpoint at least. I say that because this film has one of the most grotesque, and by extension coolest, scenes I've seen in a horror film in recent memory. You will know the one, because it's so visceral that it's gonna cause a reaction in you even if you're the most jaded horror fan out there. I'd consider myself a horror nerd, I grew up watching horror movies, and it's a genre I love to this very day. So it's fair to say that I've pretty much seen a lot of shit in horror films that I haven't reacted to, whether it be gruesomely violent or atmospherically creepy. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed the horror films I've seen throughout the years, but it's just hard to get that kind of reaction out of me when you've seen almost everything. The scene I'm talking about certainly got a reaction out of me to say the least. It got a legitimate 'holy shit' out of me, it was just a really fucking cool scene and I'm not gonna spoil it because that's what makes everyone's reaction so genuine. If I had known about it prior to the film, I wouldn't have reacted that way. But, with that said, even with that scene, I still found this to be a really damn good horror film. One thing out of the way, Jill Larson, playing the eponymous character, does an absolutely incredible job in this film. There's something ethereal about the way she carries herself in this film, but she's also strong-willed and a fighter, so it's a good mix. But when the shit hits the fan, so to speak, she's also able to be completely terrifying like she's a completely different person, which is what I imagine Alzheimer's must be like. Of course not saying that all Alzheimer's patients get violent, but it must be completely stressful for the caregivers, if they're family, to deal with the changes. One time she's ok, the next time she literally has no idea who you are and what you're doing in her house. The film, while it has its atmospheric tension and scares, is also about the stress the families feel when dealing with a family member who's dealing with this terrible, terrible disease. It's a little disturbing seeing how this film tackles the issue of Alzheimer's because it doesn't really try to sugarcoat anything. That's a horror movie in and of itself, even before you find out someone's possessing Deborah's body. This part of the film, to me, is where the film falters a bit. Because they try to turn into a supernatural thing where the ghost of a serial killer is haunting Deborah's body into doing his bidding. The idea is that this guy, before being murdered in the 70s by Harris, was trying to perform a ritual that required 5 sacrifices in exchange for immortality. He only got to 4 girls before he was murdered. Somehow, by inhabiting Deborah's body, he hoped to finish the ritual by murdering one last little girl, which is the scene I talked about earlier. There's a problem with this, after so much time, would this still count as the 5th sacrifice. Wouldn't the guy have to start over again since so much time has passed between murders? This one could be easily explained away I suppose. The second one would be, THIS GUY IS ALREADY DEAD. Why in the FUCK would he want to be immortal? Unless he hopes that, since he's inhabiting Deborah's body, that she'll then become immortal after the last sacrifice. I do not know, the film does not explain this at all. This is really the only thing the film falters at, in my opinion. The film is, unfortunately, bound by found footage cliches, but it is what it is. You get 'the frantically running' shaky camera thing. By and large, though, it doesn't get in the way as it does in some other films, but this isn't gonna change your opinion of the genre if you disliked it. All in all 2014 has been a good year for horror. You've got this film, Rigor Mortis, In Fear, Witching and Bitching, Afflicted, The Sacrament, Cheap Thrills. And that's just off the top of my head, and some going through my reviews. And that's the really good-to-great ones. There's been plenty of good horror films that I haven't mentioned here. I'd put Cheap Thrills at the top of that list if you were to press, due to its satirical tone and intelligent script, but it's been a damn good year for horror. And that's not including films I haven't seen like Babadook, Housebound, among others. This film definitely has its faults, particularly from a logical standpoint, but there's no denying how good this film actually is, at least in my opinion. If you love horror, and have Netflix, and you don't watch this, then you're doing something wrong.