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Alzheimer's is way scarier than any possession could ever be

posted 10 years ago by Daydream_Machine
16 replies | jump to latest

That's why it's so disappointing the movie doesn't make much of it. The woman goes from a nice old lady to a zombie who creeps everyone out within a few minutes. Almost no scenes where she appears halfway normal after that, no scenes where we see her and her daughter's struggle, where we can watch her mind and her personality slowly disintegrate.

The disease is just an excuse to bring on the usual possession related jump scares. It's competently made, but it feels like a wasted opportunity, because possession is not that bad of a metaphor for Alzheimer's. It also didn't really need the found footage treatment imho. Wouldn't this movie, filmed in a more traditional style and with more focus on it's subject matter and the personalities of the characters be a lot more interesting and unique? I'd say it would have been worth a try, especially since there are two perfectly capable actresses (the woman and the daughter) who easily could have handled more nuanced material.

[–] somesunnyday 10 years ago

I absolutely agree with you. I also saw this an opportunity wasted. It was reasonably well done with a fantastic premise but turned cliche and over the top towards the end. Mixing the Alzheimers with possible possession idea was brilliant and could have been so much better if handled with more care and more subdued. The ending was just way over the top and turned it into every other run of the mill horror you've ever seen.

[–] Danimal_77 10 years ago

The actress was only 66. Is that an old lady?

[–] IvyTempleton 9 years ago

The actress was only 66. Is that an old lady?

Only to the youngins.

I find human contact repulsive --Larry David

[–] haileybaron 10 years ago

Are you for real? The movie is not in any way about Alzheimer's disease. That's the red herring. That's the setup to fool you. The movie is obviously about much more than that.
And I've had both my grandmother and now my father diagnosed with the disease and while it's horrible, it would make for a boring horror film. And last I checked an old lady having her jaw come unhinged like a snake sucking down a child's face is scarier than Alzheimer's disease! Gimme a break! Lol

[–] henrimaine 10 years ago

And last I checked an old lady having her jaw come unhinged like a snake sucking down a child's face is scarier than Alzheimer's disease!

I cannot agree with that statement. Alzheimer is way more scarier than some irregular jaw movement. Ask yourself: which one are you more afraid of?

[–] bcjester 9 years ago

I'm personally not going to lie here: the "irregular jaw movement"

If I slowly slip into a realm of dementia, and basicaly in a dramatic sense
gradually die before my actual death. That does not scare me in the least, but
that's because I'm pretty accepting of that as a natural death where as my body is naturally just falling apart.

As opposed to being eaten, attacked, chased, even so much as looked at by some
crazy snake person who would swallow me whole sooner than ask me how my day was.

[–] Agent_Mothman 9 years ago

Agreed, lol!

"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red."-Clive Barker 

[–] bcjester 9 years ago

 Lol

[–] KilRydLoad 9 years ago

I KNOW, RIGHT?!??!? Holy *beep* That part creeped me the *beep* out!!! OH MY GOD!!!!! I actually rewound that to see if my mind was playing tricks on me!!!! NOPE!!!!! I mean, it's repulsing enough to watch an actual snake eat another one, how they managed to do that...you know what? I don't even wanna know! Anytime movie magic is revealed, it spoils it. All I'm gonna say is that I am in 100% agreement with you and that all the people on here whining about a missed opportunity are a bunch of friggin' Debbie Downers!!!! AMAZING HORROR MOVIE!!!!

[–] henrimaine 10 years ago

There are several drama films about Alzheimer (or similar) patients struggling with their disease. There are also several horror films about demonic possessions. The Taking of Deborah Logan is an interesting cross between these two themes.

I agree that drama films about serious disease are actually more terrifying than any possession horror could ever be, because diseases can happen to any human being while possessions are not a very likely threat. What is truly sad is that Deborah in this movie was not "cured" after her possession was over, she was still left with Alzheimer, even more than before. She was able to conquer the smaller problem but was still left with the larger one.

[–] Word-Weight 9 years ago

I think you mean a short term problem, not a smaller problem, because ripping off your flesh, vomiting worms, and gulping down children isn't a small problem, haha. Being a cannibalistic, child-kidnapping, acid-spitting, police-killing, self-harming zombie would be far more problematic to me and the world at large than a natural, more common issue that doctors play some part in. The natural disease, however, was the long term problem.

[–] mr_marius 9 years ago

I think they used it just the right amount, i was filled with memories of my own experience by the time they got to the possession, and you get hints early on that this is not normal dementia. But those memories made the scenes of her creeping around way scarier to me because iveseen that before. That old lady freaked me the *beep* out and i loved it.

[–] jspattison 9 years ago

An actual movie about Alzheimer's would have definitely been scarier. My grandfather and one my mum's friends both suffered from Alzheimer's, and it wasn't just them who suffered but everyone around them.

My grandfather eventually regressed to where he thought his sons were still children, and when my grandmother visited him in the hospice he would get very angry at her for leaving "the kids" at home by themselves. When we visited him he would think my Dad was his brother, and he had no idea who we were.

When my mum's friend was still in the early stages of the disease my mum would sometimes find her standing outside the supermarket in tears (yes, literally sobbing) because not only could she not remember where she had parked her car, but she couldn't even remember what her car looked like.

You don't need supernatural BS to make a scary movie about Alzheimer's; it's scary enough on its own.

[–] Word-Weight 9 years ago

I wouldn't call that scary if I saw that in a film as a moviegoer. Just very sad.

[–] Word-Weight 9 years ago

More or less because that sounds like something that will only register as frightening (though not in the cinematic sense) if you were experiencing it in reality, where much of the scariness comes from simply not knowing how to react. Simply watching it on screen, as opposed to being on the receiving end of it, mostly provokes sympathy, because the average watcher is not "in it" and possibly hasn't experienced it IRL, either.

[–] Sequentialist 8 years ago

You've never expereinced a possession then.

Alzheimer's can't be scarier, it's real...