The Taking of Deborah Logan: A Paranormal Murder Mystery

I don't usually care much for found footage films, but there are exceptions. "The Taking of Deborah Logan" is one of them. With a strong cast, excellent direction and a unique look at the paranormal horror genre, director and co-writer Adam Robitel brings a different perspective to the genre. A documentary crew intent on following a woman diagnosed with the Alzheimer's. As the film crew gets deeper into the ravages of the disease, it becomes apparent that there is more going on than what we believe. In my book, a horror film isn't worth its salt if it isn't rated R and this one is. Produced by Bryan Singer's "Bad Hat Harry Productions," this film went directly to Netflix and so far, is getting above average user reviews and here’s why.

Similar in tone of "The Blair Witch Project," Mia (Michelle Ang), the female leader of the documentary crew is working on this project for her medical PhD thesis and focusing specifically on the effects on the caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. She brings along Gavin (Brett Gentile) as editor, and Luis (Jeremy DeCarlos),as the rarely seen but essential cameraman. We meet the crew as they drive up to the Logan's property just outside of the town of Exuma. Set in the historic woods of Virginia, steeped in old legend of the Indians that lived there before the white man's arrival. The Logan's property is out in the woods and secluded. We are greeted jubilantly by Sarah Logan played by Anne Ramsay ("Dexter"), her mother Deborah (Jill Larson) is in the initial stages of Alzheimer’s and due to financial reasons, Deborah is seeking a portion of the film crew's grant money in exchange for the interview and allowing them to document her mother's disease, for science. Deborah, who lives in Richmond with her female life partner, has come home to help with her mother. 

As Sarah brings the group around back to meet her mother, she tells the crew that, her mom is so excited and that she has been cleaning and dusting the house as if "the president" was coming. Sarah also says that her mom comes off as, "a little salty, but it's just an act." She also tells the crew to say, "Please and thank you; kiss her ass." We find Deborah out in the back woody area with Harris (Ryan Cutrona), an old friend of the family. Almost immediately, as Deborah and Mia meet, Deborah's attitude changes and she decides she doesn't want to do the interview after all. The crew continues to film as Sarah and Deborah argue from inside the house. It is needless to say that the persistent group gets their way and a week later Deborah is welcoming and the weirdness begins. What helps in making this film believable is the interaction between Deborah and Sarah. As Deborah's mental condition gets worse, Sarah's concern and helplessness grows. Although the viewer knows that this is a film about demonic possession, you can't help but feel empathy for Sarah and the toll her mom is taking on her.

Stupidly Simple Technique To Make Men Obsess Over You

Co-writers Adam Robitel and Gavin Heffernan play off some of the conventional paranormal horror tropes. Which include American - Indian folklore ("The Amityville Horror," "Poltergeist"), the use of planted cameras ("Paranormal Activity"), security camera footage ("The Bay"), the disbelief in the paranormal ("The Last Exorcism"), creepy drawings that children usually draw of the ghosts or demons that they see ("Sinister," "Mama"), and the creepy shot with a character's back to the camera from the ending of "The Blair Witch Project." Also included is a dark secret that was once buried returns to life to haunt the living like in “Nightmare on Elm Street.” However, as a director, Robitel changes up some of these tropes and creates a new archetype utilizing instead, an older woman who has a mental illness. In Shamanistic societies, the mentally ill were regarded as sacred and speak words that come from the spirit realm. Heffernan and Robitel work into their story Monacan religion, a serial killer from the 1970's and a blood oath made by conspirators. Add to that the strong acting by both Larson and Ramsay, we watch as the scenes turn wi as each moment goes by. The film is intercut with Mia's medical school animations showing an Alzheimer's patient's brain, and interviews with Dir. Nazir (Anne Bedian) at the hospital up the level of realism a degree or two. 

As the film progresses,  Ang's character Mia, becomes more determined to get to the bottom of the strange events than actually completing her thesis. Brett Gentile as Gavin does an excellent job of developing the sense of the paranormal as he brings out EVP voices interspersed in Deborah's demonic voices. Usually in films like this, the cameraman, gets the short end of the deal but not in this case. My other issue with found footage films is that the ending is abrupt and doesn't bring the viewer to a conclusion or some sort of catharsis. For example, "The Devil Inside," clocking in at around only 83 minutes leaves the audience unfulfilled and feeling that they paid for more than what they got. However, Robitel does a fine job of wrapping this one up.

In spite of the usual bad photography and shaky-cam in places where the characters are running around, the characters, strong acting, and the a different kind of story transcend the level of mediocrity that most horror films of this type fall into. For Halloween this year, or any year, I would heartily recommend “The Taking of Deborah Logan” for your paranormal thrill fix available now on Netflix.

Movie Data

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Year:  2014

Staring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang, Brett Gentile, Jeremy DeCarlos, Ryan Cutrona, Anne Bedian 

Director: Adam Robitel

Producer(s): Jeff Rice, Bryan Singer

Writer: Adam Robitel, Gavin Heffernan 

Rating: R

Running Time: 89 minutes

Release Date: 10/21/2014

The Bay: Rain Man Director Barry Levinson Works The Found Footage Frontier

Iwant to start by confessing that in general, I am not a fan of found footage films. That being said, I have found a few that I find somewhat exceptional, and "The Bay" is one of them. Since "The Blair Witch Project," found footage has been a staple of the Horror genre. Director Barry Levinson ("Sphere," "Rain Man") assembles a film that gives the impression of a well-made documentary with no shock endings where the camera suddenly breaks, or just goes black. The camera work, while documentary-style, is not shaky nor does it make one nauseous, nor is too distracting. Levinson and co-writer Michael Wallach presents us with a story that, with just a little imagination, may not be too far off in the future. In many ways, I find "The Bay" superior to "The Europa Report," "Apollo 18," and more or less on the same level of "The Last Exorcism." In many ways, I like this movie over the all four "Paranormal Activity" films. The horror that infests "The Bay" is interesting enough to keep the viewer engaged for all of the film's 84 minutes. There is enough gore shown to give the film an R rating. 

What makes "The Bay" stand out has more to do with the advancements in technology and the fact that everybody now can be their own journalist. The fact is, in this day and age, we are constantly under surveillance, either by our friends with their cell phones, by the government tapping into security camera feeds, or by the need that many of us possess to share with the world our thoughts via the internet. Levinson does this by building a story, with a few main characters in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. In some ways, one can compare "The Bay" with Steven Spielberg's “Jaws.” Like the 1975 film, bad things start happening in the fictional small town. In this case, it is the town of Claridge Maryland. The film is a retrospective of the events of July 4, 2009. Levinson frames the events as part of a documentary done a few years later and told by a local news intern by the name of Donna (Kether Donohue) and two marine biologists, Jaquline and Sam, played by Nansi Aluka and Christopher Denham. Also like the Mayor in “Jaws,” Mayor Stockman (Frank Deal), not wanting to start a panic, plays down the evidence of mounting doom as something not to get alarmed about. Unlike "Jaws," director Barry Levinson tells the story chronologically out of order using Skype, cell phones, digital video, and security feeds.

Amateur newscaster Donna tells us immediately that the U.S. government for the last few years has been working to keep this incident a secret. The Marine Biologist found fish in the bay with a parasite that is eating them from the inside out. We see scenes of police officers Jimson and Paul (played by Michael Beasley and Jody Thompson) responding to calls throughout the day as the epidemic spreads. Dr. Abrams() from the local hospital in Claridge gives the view as the mounting deaths in the hospital as the infestation spirals out of control.  Shots of the carnage at the hospital as he emerges from his hiding place, with the only hope of stopping a future event of this sort. We see footage of doctors at Atlanta's CDC pondering and ultimately just passing on the information obtained by Sam and Jaquline after their demise. What the two scientists found in the many fish that they were examining was an enormous amount of giant isopods. Although there are no definite conclusions, about what has caused this bio-terror is the runoff from the town's chicken farms into the water. As we are all probably aware, or not, that the chickens we eat are injected with hormones to help them mature faster so they can get to the market sooner. The hormones affect the isopods, causing them to grow larger than they normally would. Once they enter the human body by eating fish or drinking water with the isopods, humans too become infected.

Levinson presents a series of images that gives an unlyrical, realistic, and complete picture of an epidemic's rise, the battle for survival, and the government's crackdown on the survivors. The downside of presenting material this way, is the lack of character development, and therefore no real protagonist to cheer for. The enemy is also handled in a somewhat sanitized way, making the horror not the enlarged sea creature, but the actual suppression in the media of the event itself. Along with Levinson, producer Jason Blum ("Insidious" "Paranormal Activity") and Oren Pelli ("Chernobyl Diaries") work together to bring out the subtleties of this type of horror. Remember, this is a Science Fiction film, and what Levinson offers up is a possibility of a future of an ecologically unbalanced world. Whether or not you are into ecological terror films, found footage films, or documentaries, Levinson's "The Bay" is worth 84 minutes of your time.

Movie Data

Genre: Horror,Sci-Fi,Thriller

Year:  2012

Staring: Nansi Aluka, Christopher Denham, Kether Donohue, Stephen Kunken, Frank Deal

Director: Barry Levinson
Producer(s): Jason Blum, Barry Levinson, Oren Peli,Steven Schneider

Writer: Michael Wallach, Barry Levinson

Rating: R
Release Date: 11/21/2012
Running Time: 84 minutes

The Devil Inside - a Review of a Film that is Not Worth Your Time!

I I has been a while since I've been inspired enough about a movie lately to write a review. In this case warn folks about a bad movie. I have been busy with work lately so going to the movies as often as I did for a while is no longer feasible. So I start the new year with a caveat and a warning .First off, I am not a fan of the "found footage" genre of films presented to us since The Blair Witch Project first came out in 1999. I never got past the really bad camera work, the campy acting, and the crappy dialog. That being said, I am here to report that I am sadly disappointed with William Brent Bell's latest offering The Devil Inside. Bell, if you recall brought us Stay Alive back in 2006, as both writer and director. You remember Stay Alive, don't you? The movie about dying in video games you die in real life. Well I almost forgot I saw it myself. The Devil Inside stars practically unknown actors Fernanda Andrade as Isabella Rossi the daughter of the main possessed person of this film, Maria. Suzan Crowley plays Maria, and unknowns Simon Quarterman, and Evan Helmuth play the rouge priests Ben and David. Not sure if I should even mention Ionut Grama as the cinematographer behind the found footage and is rarely seen and really doesn't have an impact on this film except for the end (pun intended).

Since the granddaddy of all exorcism films (The Exorcist) came out back in 1973, (I was only 10 and not allowed to see it. Thank God) and when I actually got to see it when I turned 18, I was immediately hooked on the exorcism/possessed genre. However, very few movies actually live up to the original. Even last year's The Rite was sadly disappointing and not very scary. Before that in 2010, we had two films that year, M. Night Shyamalan's The Devil. Which did creep me out, and The Last Exorcism which I have come to think after time is one of better of the "found footage" subgenre films. The Devil Inside which, in my mind reminds me of INXS's song of the same name is somewhat laughable. The story revolves around Maria Rossi (Crowley), her daughter Isabella (Andrade), a young woman in her mid-twenties whose mother murdered three members of the Roman Catholic clergy 20 years before while they tried to perform an exorcism on her the night before All Hallows Eve. By 1991, she was tried and found not guilty due to reasons of insanity. Somehow she is transferred to the Centrino Mental Hospital (doesn't exist) in Rome, Italy. So, 20 years later her daughter Isabella wants to reopen the case after finding out from her father that her mother was the subject of an exorcism at the time of the murders. So Maria, along with director/cameraman Michael Schaefer (Ionut Grama) which the website for this film explains that his bipolar mother was the reason why he was interested in Isabella's mother's case, decide to run around Rome with cameras attached to the car, Michael and Isabella first go to an Exorcism class held by Roman Catholic Church. Our quick lesson consists of explaining multiple demonic possessions, along with a film about a girl who acts possessed but the church is convinced she is only mental. Isabella is intent on seeing her mother and is received by the doctor in charge. He shows Isabella some footage from seven years prior when Maria had her last violent outbreak. The funny part was watching the doctor get his head slammed into the desk. Isabella's encounter doesn't go well, but what do expect form a mom who is either mentally disturbed or possessed, it doesn't matter it is not going to go well. Maria is crazy as a loon and Crowley does a wonderful job as both a psycho and demonically possessed person. She shows off her emo side by showing off all the cuttings on her arms. She also tells Isabella about an abortion she had a few years back. This is supposed to be the piece of information that only the devil would know. After a boring chat with her daughter, Maria invites Isabella to leave and when she doesn't, Maria goes demonic on her. Deciding to call upon her new-found-friends from the exorcism school, she meets up with Fathers Ben and David at their apartment in Rome. Isabella and Michael show off her video of her mom. Ben and David are two priests who believe in possession and Ben is an ordained Exorcist.

Ben and David give Isabella and Michael the obligatory exorcism lesson by taking them to a girl they are currently treating; the girl from the film at school. There are several mandates for any possession film and one is that you have a good contortionist on hand. The Devil Inside has a very good one and her name is Pixie Le Knot. She is very cute by the way. We also learn that pupil dilation is another sign of possession. David is a physician and monitors the girl's vitals while Ben performs the Rite. At this point Bell comes up with some creepy scenes that turned out to be mostly funny rather than scary. Ultimately, the group decides to "evaluate" Maria and of course this all goes bad for the quartet and bad things happen.

The Devil Inside's plot premise is weak at best. A kid wants to explore her psychotic mother is really possessed and brings a camera along. Two priests going rouge and performing exorcisms behind the Vatican's back. The acting is actually pretty good by Andrade, Quarterman, and Helmuth. I just hope that the bad plot and crappy ending don't hurt their careers too much. Camera work for this film was shaky but not overly distracting. Any musical score was either nonexistent or unmemorable. One of the main reasons I don't like "found footage" films is that it gives the writer/director an excuse for not filling us in with details that give the audience a sense that they are not be cheated at the story level. In the case of The Devil Inside, certain character points are only hinted at, like Isabella's abortion, Ben's death wish for his uncle and his mentor. Plot holes abound all through the storyline make me wonder if it was budget issues or is this film really just a ruse to get hits on their movie website.

I really don't like giving away the endings of films but in this case, I must. The film ends with Ben in the back seat of a car performing a quickie exorcism on Isabella while Michael is driving into a truck. Yes, the film ends with a bang and a crash. The film leaves the audience unresolved, and un-purged of their emotions. The director ends with a blank screen with just an invitation to check out the film's website therossifiles.com, which by these writing, ranks 36,183 in the United States according to Alexa.com. The site offers scant information about the film's main characters, a few links about exorcism, links to websites about demon possession, and how to become an exorcist. The website is not even worth your time. You can get better links just by typing demon possession into Google.

Don't waste your money going to the theaters to see The Devil Inside. I wouldn't even recommend this film for DVD either unless you are really hard-up for some "demon-thrill." Better picks would be The Last Exorcism from 2010 or even Sam Raimi's instant classic Drag Me to Hell from the same year.

Movie Data

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Year:  2012

Staring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth

Director:  William Brent Bell

Producer(s): Lorenzo di Bonaventura,Steven Schneider,Matthew Peterman,Morris Paulson

Writer: William Brent Bell, Matthew Peterman

Rating: R

Running Time: 83 minutes

Release Date: 1/6/2012

Apollo 18 to the Moon and ....

S ometimes a film comes around where you are not sure if it is a joke or an earnest attempt to make a film that is both entertaining and yet artistically appealing.  Most people would look at Gonzalo López-Gallego's "Apollo 18" and say what a stupid movie.  How could you get found footage back from the moon if we haven't gone back since?  Yes, annoying questions nag at you in the back of your mind while watching this film.  I don't like "found footage" movies, cause they give the director and the writer a way out of delivering a complete story and an excuse for shoddy camera work, bad editing and bad dialog.  In the case of "Apollo 18" all these flaws are quite evident, however, there is a bit more about "Apollo 18" than the crap I just mentioned. 

To find out what I am talking about, watch the film with the commentary.  Director Gonzalo López-Gallego and Patrick Lussier ("Drive Angry, Cursed," and "Red Eye") walk us through the whole process of trying to get this film made.  Bob Weinstein calls upon Spanish born López-Gallego to work on a very low budget film about a conspiracy that takes place on the moon and do it less than three months.  If I were López-Gallego, I probably would have taken a hike.  However, López-Gallego takes on the challenge with the heart of an artist and a professional and makes the best of a crappy situation.  The plot has merit, along with many holes.  Three NASA astronauts are commissioned to go back to the moon after the Apollo project was officially cancelled and set up sensors on the moon.  During the height of the Space Race and the Cold War, the conspiracy theory becomes plausible.  Even finding two dead Russian Cosmonauts even seems believable.  With the release of information in March 2011 of audio of Soviet Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, crashing to the Earth in 1967 - the possibility of the Soviets making it to the Moon and failing to return would have been something they probably would have wanted to keep secret.  In the audio commentary, the director makes no bones about having to create the impression of found footage.  He goes into great detail on how they worked to get the look of film that has been sitting around for 30 years.  He even talks with Lussier about how hokey the original Moonster (as they call the Moon monsters) looked and why he went with the more subtle version. 

Working on limited funds, limited time, and limited resources, he takes Brian Miller's incomplete script and works with it and puts together a film that with all its faults has actually made money.  With a production budget only $5 million, Apollo 18 made $25,562,924 worldwide in 12 weeks in theaters.  I also want to note that for its first weeks in DVD release, I could not find the film in any of the Red Box kiosks in my area, as they were out of stock.  The honest truth is that if you want to see a movie about the Moon, take a look at Duncan Jones' debut film Moon, starring Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Spacey.  If you are a film student and want a look at what making a film in cramped claustrophobic conditions, with no time and no money then check out this film WITH the commentary ON.

Movie Data

Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year:  2011

Staring: Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, Ryan Robbins

Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
Producer(s): Timur Bekmambetov, Michele Wolkoff

Writer: Brian Miller

Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 9/2/2011

Running Time: 86 minutes