Netflix Review: The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

(aka All Aboard the Gavin Train!)
Release Date: October 21st.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: Gavin Heffernan & Adam Robitel.
Directed by: Adam Robitel.
Starring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang, Ryan Cutrona, and Anne Bedian.

We were surprised to find this movie had been released on Netflix alongside its VOD release, before it even hit DVD. Times really are changing.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, we had no choice but to queue it up, and have at it.

When a team of documentary filmmakers approaches the elderly Deborah Logan to be the focus on their film about the horrors of Alzheimer's, she is reluctant to participate, fearing that they will exploit and embarrass her. When Deborah's daughter reminds her that they need money for things like house payments, and mounting medical bills, she reconsiders, probably because she forgot about turning them down in the first place.

IN ALL FAIRNESS, SHE DOES SEEM TO CARE MORE ABOUT HER COLLEGE THESIS THAN ANYTHING ELSE...

As they group proceeds with their film, Deborah Logan begins to exhibit some odd behavior, some of which seems to be well outside of the norm for the average Alzheimer's patient. Her doctors advise that odd behavior is normal with these type of cases, and that there's no need to panic, but no one is buying any of that; after all, older women don't just levitate onto counters by themselves. That's a younger woman's game.

ALSO, THE WHOLE "BLOOD AROUND THE MOUTH" THING ISN'T NORMAL AT ALL.

Things get creepier and creepier for all involved, which leads them to discover that there may be far more to Deborah's degenerative condition than just a mental disease...

We won't go into too much more detail about the plot here, because that would ruin it for you, but suffice it to say that something evil is afoot, and as usual, it has to do with some long-forgotten, dark secrets from the past that are coming back to haunt Deborah Logan, her family, her neighbor, the filmmakers, the Sheriff, and a poor little girl with terminal cancer. Yes, karma is a bitch.

WTF IS EVEN GOING ON IN THIS PICTURE?!?

The more I think about Deborah Logan, the more it grows on me; the performances, the Serial Killer sub-plot, the twist at then end... This movie quickly went from being "just another Horror movie," to being one of far more depth than we initially gave it credit for. That's not to say that it's perfect, or that it isn't "just" a Horror movie at heart, only that it felt like it was a bit more, and that it surprised us.

IS "PAINFUL DEATH" AN ACTUAL MERIT BADGE?

There were times when this movie strayed into the messy mire of Found Footage tropes, and it had more than one unwelcome jump-scare peppered throughout, but for the most part, Deborah Logan was a pretty chilling effort. It really comes down to Deborah's "taking" (and the reasons behind it), that make things so unsettling, and even terrifying at times. Once we understood what was happening, we payed more attention to Jill Larson and her performance, because there was a lot more going on there than we had initially thought. The "mental shifts," if you will, that Deborah Logan was experiencing, had a sort of creepy gravitas to them, thanks largely to the backstory from which they came.

Speaking of Jill Larson, how great was she in this movie? Again, in the early going we thought that she was just standing around, looking and acting creepy, because it's a Horror movie, and that's what potentially possessed people do in Horror movies. About halfway through though, we started to really see the nuance in her performance, and we thought it was brilliant. *For the record, we hate using words like brilliant because that kind of hyperbole sucks, but sometimes, the word just fits. In this case, it mostly does.

"THE FUCK YOU JUST SAY TO ME?"

The rest of the performances in the movie were fine, although we have to say that two of the three filmmaker characters were annoying, and they drove us nuts. That's alright though, because that third guy, Gavin, made it all better. One of the most refreshing parts of Deborah Logan was Gavin; the honest, sensible guy, who throughout the whole movie was calling BS on everyone else's stupidity. And it was great. When he was all like "The Gavin train is pulling out. Last call, man!" I laughed. When he was all like "Fuck both of you!" and sped off, honking his horn, I laughed even harder. It was really great to see a character do exactly what we always say anyone with any sense in these kind of movies would do. You know, like leave? 

SHE WAS NOT WELCOME ABOARD THE GAVIN TRAIN.

On a final note, we'd like to say that we've heard a few comments about how this movie exploits a serious and tragic disease (Alzheimer's) for nothing more than cheap thrills, and we have to disagree. We never once felt like the topic at hand was being sensationalized for the sake of entertainment, and if anything, we believe that writers Heffernan and Robitel approached the material with as much respect as they could. We could always be wrong, but we're probably not. Just our two cents on the matter.

PORN? NOW? REALLY?!?

You could easily write Deborah Logan off as just another possession movie, and it kind of is, but that would be doing it a big disservice, because it really isn't. At the very least, this movie puts a different spin on familiar material, and most important of all, it does it effectively. It's creepy and ultimately compelling, and above all else, it was enjoyable.

If you're looking to watch a movie that will creep you out for the rest of the night, while not insulting your intelligence at the same time, then Deborah Logan may just be your ticket. Give it a rent.

B

The Taking of Deborah Logan is available now on DVD, VOD, and is streaming on Netflix.

The ladies of The Taking of Deborah Logan.