Shudder Saturday: Brooklyn 45 (2023)

Sadly, I have to start this review with a warning, for those who just want to skin. Brooklyn 45 is not a good film, and I'm frankly a bit bewildered by the praise it has received.

Written and directed by Ted Geoghegan, who gave us the excellent We Are Still Here, everything begins with a group made up largely of war veterans all getting together at one house at the end of 1945. The host for the evening is Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden), and the main attendees are Mjr. Paul DiFranco (Ezra Buzzington), Mjr. Archibald Stanton (Jeremy Holm), Marla Sheridan (Anne Ramsay), and her husband, Bob (Ron E. Rains). Locking the door once everyone is in, Hockstatter eventually convinces everyone that they should try holding a seance. He really misses his recently-deceased wife, and a seance might help him feel a bit less pained and lonely. That doesn't really work out as planned, which leads to a tense situation in which everyone is now effectively trapped in the house, and ready to do a whole lot of bickering.

I guess I can see what Geoghegan was going for here, and the tagline refers to "ghosts of your past", but he ultimately fails to achieve the realisation of his vision. Characters aren't developed enough, the past events never feel as overwhelming and life-altering as they could be, and there are very few proper chills or scares. Everything looks nice enough, which is the least you should expect from a film in which a very small cast is mainly kept in one fairly small room, but the content is lacking.

As for the actors, I wish they had been good enough to help distract me from the failings of the film, but they're often unable to do anything to improve the poor writing. Ramsay is the best, and works well with a sorely-underused Rains, both feeling a bit more nuanced and fleshed-out than anyone else onscreen. Both Holm and Buzzington are disappointing, and neither are helped by the fact that they have to spend most of the movie stubbornly repeating the same sentiments over and over again, because Geoghegan thinks that is enough to define them. Fessenden isn't a main presence for too long, but does okay with what he's given, and Kristina Klebe turns up almost a third of the way into the movie, having to then spend the rest of the screentime repeating herself in a way that's very similar to Holm and Buzzington. 

There are one or two good ideas buried in here, particularly when it comes to the parallels/differences between military life and civilian life, and how some people will always feel inclined to stick with an identifiable chain of command, but they're buried deep by the time the end credits roll. Far too many moments amount to nothing of real substance, with a good majority of the runtime dedicated to the kind of tiresome circular arguments that are reminiscent of the worst conversations I have had on social media.

I like Geoghegan, and he at least deserves props for presenting something that certainly feels different from any other recent horror movies, but this just doesn't work. Not only that, but it pretty much wastes the talent of everyone onscreen. And there were a couple of easy tweaks that could have greatly improved things (Brooklyn 50, with more time elapsed between military life and reintegration into civilian life, for example, would have allowed for more interesting developments and tensions, in my opinion). Maybe Geoghegan the director needs someone helping Geoghegan the writer. Because everything looks good enough, but it's a fancy bit of paper and bow on an empty gift box.

4/10

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Prime Time: The Taking Of Deborah Logan (2014)

Please note, for some reason, this is often now listed under the title "The Taking".

I have joked for many years that when I forget something, or lose something, I am having “a senior moment”. I am sure I am not alone in using this phrase in a light-hearted way. But the reality is that, as is the case for so many others, the thought of any illness that would affect me in that way is terrifying. You lose yourself, you cannot be sure of what is real in your life, and you rely on everyone else to keep you attached to whoever you once were.

The Taking Of Deborah Logan is a found footage film that uses the idea of dementia and illness being equatable to possession, and it’s not much of a stretch. I am sure that many people who have watched loved ones suffer from such brain-warping illnesses could tell you how strange it is to see someone turn into someone completely different.

Jill Larson plays Deborah Logan, and Anne Ramsay is her daughter, Sarah. Deborah is getting worse and worse, in terms of her health, and an arrangement has been struck with a crew wanting to document some of her journey. It doesn’t take long to see that there may be more to Deborah’s illness than the usual medical issues.

Director Adam Robitel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Gavin Heffernan, is capable enough when it comes to dealing with thrills and chills. He may not be any kind of master of horror, but he knows how to create some enjoyable creepiness and impressive jump scares. The first half of the film is a bit stronger, when considering the boundaries blurred between what can be diagnosed and what seems to be supernatural, but the second half brings together the main plot strands and delivers a few great shocks (including one haunting image that you may have seen in gif form on the internet, whether you have seen the film or not).

The cast all convince in their roles, but most scenes are carried by Ramsay and Larson, with Ramsay easily conveying the pain and confusion of a loving grown-up child unable to find ways to help a parent, and the latter perfectly pitching her performance as she weaves between extremely vulnerable and extremely menacing.

Navigating the tone well, The Taking Of Deborah Logan only really stumbles when it feels the need to make one story strand completely overt. Some ambiguity and uncertainty would have made this a modern classic, but it holds up as a strong modern horror, and certainly one of the better found footage movies from the past decade.

7/10

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