The Taking OF Deborah Logan (2014)

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Director: Adam Robitel

Writer: Gavin Heffernan, Adam Robitel

 Starring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, and Mitchell Ang

 Synopsis: The daughter of a woman with Alzheimer’s allows a film crew to document her mother’s descent into dementia. However, things are not what they seem and Deborah Logan may have more than just Alzheimer’s.

 

Review: This movie is a little different than your usual found footage or even possession movies. I’d almost say it’s a breath of fresh air except I found it good, not great as some have coined it.

 Trying to help pay the medical bills of her mother, a woman allows a film crew to document her mother’s decline due to Alzheimer’s Disease. However, things start escalating into something that isn’t just due to the disease at all and that’s where the possession or occult aspect comes in.

 I found the acting pretty decent, especially with Anne Ramsay, who plays Deborah Logan’s daughter. There are quite a few creepy moments and one that is especially shocking so that in itself gives the movie some extra points. I didn’t care for the open-ended ending with the little girl (not a spoiler, by the way) and while I enjoy some endings like that, this one was just “okay” to me.

 I do like that the movie took a different approach to the usual possession theme. We have an elderly woman instead of your usual teen girl, the atmosphere was decent, and like I said, the acting was pretty good as well. I don’t know why I didn’t love it more but then again, it is probably one that I’ll watch again and that may change my review to an even higher score.

 

Found Footage O Meter: I give this one a solid 6/10 and that may change with another viewing. I dare say one of the best found footage movies of 2014.

The Devil’s Due 2014

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Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Writer: Lindsay Devlin

 Starring: Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, and Sam Anderson

 

Synopsis: After their honeymoon in another country, a couple finds out she is pregnant. Mysterious things start happening, which leads to the question of, “What is the baby and who wants it?”

 Review: This was a found footage movie that I enjoyed more than most people. It starts with the main couple on their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. On their last night, their taxi driver takes them to a party and this is where everything starts. Of course, they don’t remember what happened at all and head home to start their lives as a new couple.

 Samantha quickly finds out that she is pregnant even after taking precautions and of course, weird things start happening. For instance, she starts eating raw meat (Rosemary’s Baby, anyone?) and attacks a guy at the mall who almost runs into her. That was one of the parts that I really enjoyed the most. She doesn’t just attack him, she busts the windows out in his SUV with her bare hands. Hey, carrying the devil’s baby makes you more than just hormonal.

 Of course things start to escalate. People keep watching the house, Samantha keeps acting even stranger, and the ending is pretty cool in my opinion. Like many other movies, this one keeps things open for a sequel but like The Den, it allows closure to the movie if there isn’t another made. And judging from the reviews from others, there probably won’t be.

 However, I’m in the minority and liked it a lot. I loved the vacation scenes, I really enjoyed her weird pregnancy, and I didn’t find the ending contrived or cliched that much at all.

 

Found Footage O Meter: This may not be a solid 10 or even close to that on the scale but I did find it interesting and would watch it again so it gets a strong 6/10 or a weak 7/10. If you liked this one check out Delivery another found footage similar to this one. I thought it was maybe even hair better than this one. Review on that one coming soon.

The Den (2013)

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Director: Zachary Donohue

Writers: Zachary Donohue and Lauren Thompson

Starring: Melanie Papalia, David Schlachtenhaufen, and Adam Shapiro

 

Synopsis: A young graduate student (Melanie Papalia) attempts to study the online activity of random people in order to get grant money for her graduate thesis in Social Media Studies. She witnesses what seems to be a real murder and gets caught up in trying to find the killer when her own loved ones start disappearing.

Review: First of all, I loved this movie and it is most likely because the story seemed more realistic and the ending was pretty awesome. If you’ve ever played on Chatroulette or any of the other video chat services, then you’ll recognize some of the familiar scenes that the main character, Elizabeth witnesses the first few days of her studies.

Elizabeth starts out with the usual silly online presences – the guys who want to show off their privates, the pranks that are supposed to surprise and scare you, and foreigners wanting to make new friends. Things start out with her being filmed while making love to her boyfriend and having that video sent to various people, including the ones who decide if she gets a grant or not. Along the way, she makes friends with one girl who never shows up on video and when she eventually does, it’s her death that Elizabeth sees.

The police don’t believe her and it’s her best friend that she turns to in order to get help. Once he and her boyfriend disappear, Elizabeth goes out on her own to try to find them and this is where things get really interesting. Her sister is targeted and things go from bad to worse for her really quickly.

Without giving anything away, the ending reminded me of Hostel somewhat and that was really refreshing. It left the door open for a sequel while still allowing the original movie to end with closure should a sequel not be made.

 

Found Footage O Meter: I’d give this movie a solid 8/10 for an original look at what many of us are familiar with – online video chatting. There are some really intense and violent scenes if you’re into that but they don’t overwhelm the plot or seem gratuitous in any way.

 

 

 

Grave Encounters 2011

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Director: The Vicious Brothers

Writers: The Vicious Brothers

Starring: Ben Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko

Synopsis: For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that’s supposedly haunted – and it might prove to be all too true.

 

Grave Encounters starts off very similar to any other ghost hunting show like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. I found the cast very realistic in the aspect of being ghost hunters. I felt like I was watching a show. You watch a camera crew stay the night in a supposedly haunted insane asylum. Most people will feel okay we have all heard this story and seen this movie. I thought the same despite the rave reviews it was gaining before I viewed it myself.

 

(Minor Spoilage) I also loved how the beginning it did address the fact that every show doesn’t always get results hence paying a handy man to say he saw something. I kinda figured this may happen in the real shows like Ghost Hunters.

 

Now, I don’t want to give too much a way. I am only giving my review and this is not a blow-by-blow of the entire movie. The movie had some great scares. However, I did find all the screaming and f-bombs dropping a little annoying. But I can’t really say anything because I am relatively sure if I were in the same situation I would probably be dropping f-bomb as well. But is just really annoying to watch for me.

 

I did not go in expecting much from this movie. It was surrounded by a ton hype by the time I got around to watching it. Typically when a movie is surrounded by so much hype I end up hating it. And I hate it when that happens. But this movie did its job. I was scared and jumpy. I put my hand over my eyes and peeked through a couple of times. So I am with this one to say the least. And it had a nice little twist.

8.5/10: Definitely one of my favorite found footage movies. It was well done and the actors were great. It’s definitely one not to be missed.

I will be reviewing Grave Encounters 2 very soon!!! 🙂