The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)

Wonderful character development!

Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

One of the most brutal horror movies out there! It's like you are watching a bunch of tapes from a serial killer. There isn't much plot it's more about going through the different scary scenes of people getting tortured and killed.It's not too too bloody like the Saw movies I think are probably bloodier but this movie is so intense! It actually feels like you are watching serial killer footage which is scary. The mask man in one scene almost made me have a heart attack!I don't know why more people don't talk about this movie!!

Firstly, I must point out that this film had me second guessing the backstory research (that I had done previously) throughout! Some of the clips from this series found footage 'tapes'-that we are exposed to- are reminiscent of scenes from snuff films and appear so vividly realistic; that it became hard to distinguish when the narrative was being genuinely scary rather than real ( I will say this film is NOT a true story, but speculation is that it has some moments that resemble actual cases). It is through these raw realistic portrayals and crime show documentary style techniques, that we are drawn into the film with both awe and repulsion. We recoil at some hideous moments, terrified of the fate of the person we are viewing. We gasp as people are bound,gagged, tortured and then slain in front of our eyes. This is a film on par with Cannibal Holocaust or even the original release of The Blair Witch project, for it's believable portrayals and twisted take on the horrifying insight into a criminal's psyche. Like a studious serial killer who is etched forever in our memory (like the evolution of Hannibal Lector in the films The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon and Hannibal), we learn how intelligent The Water Street Butcher (as he is dubbed by investigators) is and how creatively he has developed his techniques, his executions and ultimately his power over his victims.Our killer uses his crimes to set up a series of red herrings for the police, which ultimately help him to evade capture. One particular victim develops a love so fascinating for her captor that it makes us shudder at her unnerving desire to continue to please her "Master". We learn of how she has slowly been tortured, dominated and submerged within his world, to the point of developing symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome and thus furthering her twisted attraction to her captor (more so due to his perpetual dominance over her for several years and an inability to break free from it once her ordeal is over). Through the interviews with the victims families, forensic specialists and differing levels within law enforcement and their equally involved legal guides, we learn more about the details for these crimes and the hellish nightmare like levels of depravity our killer delves into. The use of the documentary style, the camera/video techniques, the dialogue (which is wonderfully realistic) and the casting -all unknown and believable in their roles from each angle of the film have all created this very pragmatic and factually realistic film that is a superb, if not unnerving watch in parts. My only fault is the limited release of The Poughkeepsie Tapes. It did appear at some festivals with the Dowdle brothers in 2007 upon release, but since has been pulled from the actual release (despite cinematic advertising) and not been released either cinematically or on home media to this date! It's been 9 years and further developments on why are torn between issues with distributor MGM and the possibility the films likeness was too realistic and possibly touched on some actual real life crimes of a similar nature. The truth.....we may never know.

Definitely amongst the better examples of found footage horror, The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a downright shocking, extremely disturbing & profoundly scarring experience that offers an unnerving insight into the psyche of a sadistic serial killer, is filmed in a manner that makes its images look highly gruesome & realistic, and contains segments that's going to make its viewers flinch multiple times throughout its runtime.Shot in a faux-documentary style, The Poughkeepsie Tapes follows police investigators who recover around 800 videotapes after raiding an abandoned house in a city just north of New York. Within these tapes are recordings that unveil a sadistic killer's decades-long reign of terror during which he abducted, killed & mutilated nearly as many victims and recorded his crimes on camera. As they go through the tapes one by one, they find themselves severely affected by these horrific images.Co-written & directed by John Erick Dowdle, The Poughkeepsie Tapes is based on the real- life crimes committed by the notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, and captures his crimes in a very grainy, messed-up & low-resolution style which does conceal the gruesome details of those recorded footages to an extent but in turn also allows the viewers' imagination fill in those gaps, thus leaving its audience utterly disturbed by the inhuman nature of it all. But it isn't just one brutal sequence after another for there is more to this film.It attempts to shape up the psychological profile of the serial killer although that part isn't very refined. The documentary style of shooting, interspersed with those tinted recordings bring a discomforting layer of its own, its 86 minutes of runtime is steadily paced, and even its cheap looking production ends up working in its favour. There's one particular scene in the story where we meet the killer's only surviving victim and to witness the entire effect of the prolonged torture on her psyche is not only troubling but equally heartbreaking as well.On an overall scale, The Poughkeepsie Tapes is undeniably a difficult film to sit through but it also left me pleasantly surprised with its interesting plot, captivating narration, menacing tone, relatively fine performances from its amateur cast and its uncanny ability to instil fear without showing everything on the screen. The tension is palpable at times and although it isn't devoid of its shortcomings, The Poughkeepsie Tapes ends up faring much better than my initial expectations and is one chiller I don't mind recommending to every horror fan out there. Definitely not for the squeamish!

Another found-footage flick that people said, you must see it and I tried to track it down, for years. When it came out it vanished from the planet like nothing, it never had a proper release or was seen in the theaters. Strange things went on with this flick and even up to today it doesn't have a proper release, only available on VOD. So I thought yeah well, this is going to be a terrible flick if it didn't has a release but God was I wrong.Must say that I was warned that it was a disturbing flick and yes, it was. Always loved flicks about serial killers and this found footage is one with that theme. We do follow the cops trying to nail the killer and slowly we do see the video's the killer has left behind and it all starts so easy and low profile but towards the end it really get you by the throat. Even as it isn't that gory at all still the score used and the way it is filmed you will forget that you are watching a film. You are dragged into a documentary and into the sickness of a killer's mind.As strange as The Poughkeepsie Tapes is it is a gem. It was made a good two years before the receding tide of found footage flicks out now. Due to budget concerns they may have pulled the plug on the promising film. This is all really speculation, for there was never any public statements about the decision to not distribute the film. MGM still owns the rights, and other studios have offered to buy it. The hole might be dug too deep now, the film is possibly no longer culturally relevant for a theatrical release, and the studio may be hiding in the underbrush, waiting to pounce it on an unsuspecting public. The fear that is may get lost in the already crowded sea of found footage trash to sift out of Hollywood. A second release date was scheduled for January 2, 2009 but that date too faded into memory. A must see.Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 4/5 Comedy 0/5