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).
Coming Soon & Now Showing is a monthly series on Halloweenies that catches up on the latest horror headlines and round robins capsule reviews of new and old horrors.
This month, Michael Roffman and Justin Gerber discuss the blockbuster weekend involving Backrooms and Obsession. They also brush on some franchise news and dust off oldies for the first time: 1987’s Dead of Winter and 1977’s False Face.
Stream the episode below. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, Chucky, Alien, and the Universal Monsters.This year? Hellraiser!
You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Re-Animator, Darkman), one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Manhunter, ), and even spinoffs like their recent run Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.