There
are three attics in Deborah Logan’s spooky old house, where evil ought to have
more than enough room to supernaturally lurk about. However, the best corner
for a demonic force to wreak havoc might be within her age addled soul. A
research team shooting a video study of life with Alzheimer’s will end up
filming a found footage horror movie in Adam Robitel’s The Taking of Deborah Logan (trailer here), which is now
available on early EST (electronic sell-through), just in time for Halloween,
but duly in advance of its DVD release next Tuesday.
Mia
Medina’s research thesis postulates those who care for family members with
Alzheimer’s will also face long term health issues of their own, as a result. Sarah
Logan appears to be an excellent case study. Dealing with her increasingly
erratic mother has her at the end of her tether. Deborah Logan’s tendency to
make cracks about her sexuality during lucid moments does not help much either.
As a further complication, Mrs. Logan is still proud enough to resent the
presence of Medina’s camera crew, but they need the fees provided by her
research grant.
Initially,
Medina and crew think they are merely documenting Logan’s precipitous decline,
but really messed up things start happening. Eventually, Logan is hospitalized
when she exhibits violent symptoms not associated with Alzheimer’s.
Unfortunately, the madness only gets worse at this point. Oh by the way, you
don’t suppose the ritualistic killer who once preyed on children in the
neighboring towns could somehow be involved?
Yes,
we have been down this dark corridor before, but Taking is shockingly scary nonetheless. Partly, it is because
Robitel starts the sinister uncanniness slowly, cranking up the intensity subtly
and deliberately throughout the first two acts. Frankly, one sly “what the heck”
moment is better than a barrage of special effects. Plus, Robitel and co-screenwriter
Gavin Heffernan tap into some deeply rooted anxieties regarding the
vulnerabilities of age and the resulting deterioration of the faculties. They
also play on those traditional horror movie fears of getting done over by a
strange unseen force.
Further
aiding the cause is a far superior cast of TV veterans than ordinarily found in
more-or-less straight to DVD releases. Sometimes funny and sometimes profoundly
sad, Anne Ramsay (recognizable from Dexter
and Mad About You) is terrific as
the exasperated Sarah Logan. Likewise Michelle Ang (who co-starred in several
long-running Australian shows) brings attitude and edginess as Medina, while it
is truly frightening to watch All My
Children’s Jill Larsen portray Deborah Logan’s disintegrating body and soul.
