The Taking of Deborah Logan

2014 Directed by Adam Robitel

Evil lives within you

What starts as a poignant medical documentary about Deborah Logan's descent into Alzheimer's disease and her daughter's struggles as caregiver degenerates into a maddening portrayal of dementia at its most frightening, as hair-raising events begin to plague the family and crew and an unspeakable malevolence threatens to tear the very fabric of sanity from them all.

Jill Larson Anne Ramsay Michelle Ang Ryan Cutrona Brett Gentile Anne Bedian Jeremy DeCarlos Tonya Bludsworth Melissa Lozoff Julianne Taylor

Alternative Titles

The Taking, Демоны Деборы Логан, Profecía sangrienta, Profecia Sangrienta La posesion de Deborah Logan

horror mystery thriller

90 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sydney ★★★½ 13

The ending effects made my jaw drop, and that's a difficult feat when you watch as much horror as I do.
Review by Siegel™ ★★½ 13

Went in hoping for an affecting horror as an empathy machine for dementia and Alzheimer's, got a pretty average demon possession story. As Deborah progresses from Alzheimer's patient to demonic host, the story makes it seem as though sufferers of the disease are prone to extremely violent outbursts and terrifying behavior, and it takes the filmmakers far too long to explain what’s really going on, resulting in a film that borders on the offensive. Succeeds in its terrifying body horror imagery and tremendous lead performance, but it is unfortunately completely tired everywhere else, from its themes to its narrative to the found footage execution.
a24 rank
Review by Ian West ★★★★ 2

Found footage supernatural possession jam effectively executed with some genuinely creepy moments. I liked the setup and its take on possession, atmosphere, effective scares, and how halfway through the movie the camera man leaves and is like “NOPE I’M OUT, KEEP YOUR MONEY” lolol.
The ending is a total jaw dropping doozy with one of the best images on screen during that year, I did not expect that scene to happen. Although it felt a little long on a revisit, The Taking of Deborah Logan has plenty to offer for genre and found footage fans—especially Jill Larsen, who really knocks it out the park with her performance and elicited a very different emotional response out of me this time around after recently losing my grandmother to a horrible mixture of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia. Heavy stuff.
Review by Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 👻 ★★★★ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Super creepy! With the exception of Insidious: The Last Key which did nothing for me, Adam Robitel has delivered some solid horror and this is definitely one of those! The whole tired found footage angle is actually used well here and there are some truly inspired scenes!
I originally watched this when it was in Netflix and y’all know that Netflix is hella hit or miss with horror. Like most of it is total crap but every so often you get a diamond in the rough like this film and that alone make it worth suffering through all the bad shit, but you gotta be dedicated and luckily I am.
The part where Deborah starts to unhinge her jaw to swallow…
Review by Jordan Beaumont Anderson ★★★ 2

My father is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and I can't wait until he unhinges his jaw and tries to eat my head.
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★ 3

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Becoming possessed by a memory locked away as your mind aggressively deteriorates is terrifying enough but then add snakes & child abductions, clever jump scares seamlessly woven throughout, a spooky atmosphere and ALL THE 🍁 F A L L V I B E S 🍂 , I was rather impressed with The Taking of Deborah Logan. I watched this on my computer in the late afternoon with light trying to poke through curtains and I was still feeling it!!
The unhinged jaw spooked me but let's not forget about when she spit venom into the cop's face!!!!!!!!!! Honestly creeped out watching this in the fucking afternoon, I'm impressed.
I know they won't read this, but many thanks to Nathaxnne for recommending this to me! ♥
Review by bree1981 ★★★½ 5

A really well made found footage horror movie that's equal parts disturbing and tragic. Mia (Michelle Ang) is a student making a documentary for her PHD thesis about Alzheimer's sufferer Deborah Logan (Jill Larson) and her caregiver/grown-up daughter Sarah (Anne Ramsay). To start with, it's a real tragic story as we see Deborah's condition deteriorate and dementia starts to take over. The film takes a turn however when Deborah begins to show even more disturbing signs, she starts to self harm, clawing off big chunks of her own skin and she's prone to some terrifying fits of rage. Sarah begins to think that it may not be a deliberating disease that's taking over her mother but something much darker.
This…
Review by Rafael Jovine ★★★½ 8

Once Upon A Time…. An Spooktober List
In the sea of found footages that came after the success of Paranormal Activity is pretty much endless, like once you think you've seen them more and more just keep coming to the surface. Out of that big pile of generic, cheap and terrible films there are a few that try and kinda succeed on actually adding some new elements or takes to the genre that helped making this burned concept somewhat refreshing. In the case of this little gem right here, the horrible consequences that comes as a result of Alzheimer are used and blended with elements of horror in a way that while flawed, still interesting and most importantly, isn't as…
Review by clemmie ★★½

the farewell made me love old people but this just made me hate them again
Review by Greg ★★★★

There being a lesbian automatically made this better than every other found footage film I have EVER seen.
Review by Travis Lytle ★★★

Though it is yet another found-footage horror film, Adam Robitel's "The Taking of Deborah Logan" has enough sense to use to gimmick in a way that actually makes sense. Avoiding many of the pitfalls of the overused gimmick, Robitel's film uses the format in a manner reminiscent of subgenre stand-outs like "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity." While the film itself may not be grand, it manages to apply the found-footage conceit in a way the supports its chilling and capably told story.
The film's narrative is built around a documentary crew that is making a nonfiction film about a woman with Alzheimer's disease. The crew spends its days and nights with the woman and her family, studying every…
Review by Ava Davis ★★½

the embodiment of “haha and then what”

Recent reviews

Review by c_b_w_ ★★★

Pretty good, nothing special; but kept my eyes glued without any cheesiness. Not terrifying or anything, but it was a fun watch with friends and a few drinks.
Review by Riley Cassidy ★★★

“I do all my little puzzles.”
I was really worried this was just gonna be a super offensive look at Alzheimer’s and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t that!
It was also pretty scary! What fun
Review by Kim ★★★★★

Movie 42/200 : The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)
A young student takes her thesis to the next level by creating a documentary focused on an Alzheimer's patient. But that's the last thing she ended up capturing on film.
I LOVE Found Footage horror films and this one definitely did not disappoint. This film captures all of the aspects of Horror that I adore. We have a strong female lead and an ending resulting in a plot twist that's unexpected. I've been wanting to see this film for a while and I was finally able to find it on Shudder. For those of you playing along, Shudder is a streaming service dedicated strictly to Horror. I highly recommend both Shudder and The Taking of Deborah Logan for any horror fans out there.
5/5
Review by sashishin ★★½

it gets the job done
Review by rosie 🐰 ★★★★½

i wish my alzheimers ridden grandma would do this but she just calls me fat
Review by poopeep69 ★★★★

shawty head game go craaaaazy 🤣🤣👀‼️
Review by gonefishingg ★★★

i thought i was scared of snakes but now im more scared of snakes but this movie was very good
Review by Charlotte La Rue ★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This is definitely better than I expected it to be. I appreciated the documentary style-aspect of it with a found-footage, almost Blair Witch Project-like feeling.
Holy shit, I will NEVER shake the image of the woman’s jaw breaking and opening super wide to eat the little girl. THAT was some fucked up, yet good graphics.
Review by Caleb Mercer ★★

The best part is how the cameraman questions why this family has three attics.
Other than that, it reeks of early 2010s found footage horror with some killer effects at the end. Deborah's character is handled so poorly as well. Mediocre all around
Review by xenomorphs ★★★

dollar tree laura dern lesbian made some points in this
Review by Sonny Brooks ★★★½

My god
Review by Slade ★★½

exceeded my expectations, although it still wasn’t the best found footage film. It’s genuinely tense and terrifying and the ending shot gave me chills