Podcasts
Queer Protagonists, Mental Illness and Found Footage in ‘The Taking of Deborah Logan’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Swallow Me Whole.
February has been a bit all over the place for us, hasn’t it? First, we celebrated Joe’s birthday with a viewing of Vincenzo Natali’s demented film Splice, then we got all lovey-dovey with the 40th anniversary of My Bloody Valentine. Now, we’re getting serious with Adam Robitel‘s 2014 found footage film The Taking of Deborah Logan
In the Virginia-set film, Mia (Michelle Ang) records the daily lives of Deborah (Jill Larson) and her daughter Sarah (Anne Ramsay) as part of her thesis film about Alzheimer’s patients. As the days progress, strange things happen around Deborah, and it becomes apparent something has taken control of her.
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Episode 113 – The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)
On this week’s episode, we’re digging up queer writer/director Adam Robitel’s found footage shocker The Taking of Deborah Logan!
After discussing the tropes of the found footage sub-genre, we’ll discuss Robitel’s ties to the Paranormal Activity franchise, and how this film does and doesn’t stand out from its peers.
We’ll also try to answer the most common questions brought up in discussions of the film: is the conflation of mental illness with possession offensive? Should the film have steered away from using First Nations/Indigenous practices as a plot point? (Why can’t it just be a white person murder ritual, Karen?) And should more be made about Sarah’s sexuality?
Plus: old lady possession vs hot young girl possession (paging Jennifer Carpenter!), snake wrangler sex jokes, concerns about the number of attics in a single house and, of course, lezzing out over Sarah and Sheriff Tweedy.
And of course: our thoughts on that money shot scene.
Cross out The Taking of Deborah Logan!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re concluding February with Trace’s birthday episode! To celebrate, we’ll be discussing Matthew Bright’s black-as-hell crime comedy Freeway, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland.
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! In February we have minisodes on Religious Horror and a ranking of the Wrong Turn franchise, plus full length episodes on Willy’s Wonderland and Saint Maud. We’ve also got an audio commentary on My Bloody Valentine (2009).
It’s always a cruel summer, but 2026 is about to get crueler.
To blow off steam, the Losers hit the road to visit all the towns in Stephen King’s Dominion. Derry, Castle Rock, Ludlow, Boulder, the list goes on. They’ve got miles to drive and so many (scary) sights to see. At the end of the day, though, they have to ask themselves: Which one’s the best? And, more importantly, what does “best” mean in this context?
Stream the episode below. PayDays and Nozz-a-La, optional. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).