You have to be logged in to comment! If you don't have an account register now for free! Your account allows you to post comments and reviews, upload videos and images, access or our forums, write personal blogs, and maintain your profile.
This movie is awesome. Do not confuse this with 'torture porn'. Torture porn is to gross you out, this film is meant to creep you out - and it does that big time. This is one of the most realistic portrayals of a serial killer that I have seen in a film.
The killer revels in instilling incredible fear from his victims before they meet their gruesome death and in one case something much worse than death.I don't want to give too much away but I will say that PT far exceeded my expectations - and they were pretty high.
The stuff here could be torn right out of a true crime book where all the eerie details are left in. There is gore but not as much as you might think but then again the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't have much gore either. TCM and PT both have the same traits. They are both grisly, sick, perverse, raw, and unshakeable.
We have finally gotten our Paranormal Activity and our Trick R' Treat. MGM needs to pull PT out of hiding and release it on the innocent public.
Don't listen to the haters. This film is the next Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.
I can see this coming out soon because of how good Paranormal Activity did. Overall not that bad. It was entertaining but the torture porn thing is getting old and im starting not to like these types of movies anymore. I think this would be a hit if it came to theaters. But it was just alright.
I rarely see a film which gives me the kinds of heebie jeebie's that I'm making sure my windows and doors are locked. This one did.
I just sat through my first viewing of The Poughkeepsie Tapes which was directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle.
This film takes the "faux-documentary" idea very seriously, as the entire film plays out exactly like a documentary would. It's supposed to be documenting the hunt for, exploits of, and the eventually found videotapes of The Water Street Butcher, a serial killer who prowled Poughkeepsie, New York during the nineties. The thing is, these guys did an incredible job of creating the documentary feel. This is actually poor in all the places so many of "true crime" documentaries we've come to be so familiar with are poor. They have almost perfectly written the parts for the police they've interviewed, and certainly did a great job with casting. I've read a few reviews in the past which took some of the performances to task, but now that I've seen it, I honestly don't think the reviewers in those cases fully understood the intent. If you watch the kind of "true crime" documentary this film is supposed to recreating, you will find a number of the people interviewed for them are not at all used to being on camera, and that's exactly how this comes across. I don't know if it's just a product of poor acting or something the Dowdle brothers specifically tried to get in the movie, but for me, it worked in service of the film.
Then there's the "found footage", which isn't the most graphic thing I've ever seen by a very long shot, but still manages to be downright creepy and weird because of the very bizarre nature of it. Some of the degree of truly creepy and unsettling nature might just be the degree to which it isn't all that shocking. I think it got to me because it really did come across in a way which really suggested that if some serial killer had recorded all of his exploits, this is exactly what we, as the general public, would be allowed to see. A documentarian has considerations a narrative fiction film maker doesn't have, especially if they were covering a subject like the one this film is supposed to. If this had been a real documentary, you'd never have seen a shot in which any of the victims were actually killed. It just would not happen, it would be too much, too sensational, too graphic and so on. It would literally become a snuff film, and it would never get made, have a prayer of getting released or distributed or anything. A documentary on the horrors of war, absolutely, you will see people actually die on film. But a documentary on a serial killer or serial killers in general, even if tapes like these actually did exist, the general public would never be shown an actual murder on tape. And if they were, the chances are better than not that it would cause the kind a kind of uproar the likes of which have not been seen in a very, very, long time, possibly ever. As a society, a movie going public, the chances are better than not that we wouldn't accept it. Sure, people bitch and moan and whine about the "immoral nature" of violence in fiction (especially horror films), but this is one of the few ways in which somehow, some way, on some instinctual level, we understand there is a difference between reality and fiction. The Brothers Dowdle know exactly where to stop to keep the film both riveting and also keep the reality of the "documentary" real enough to have kept me deeply uneasy from about a quarter of the way in.
The Pougkeepsie Tapes manages to be disturbing and unsettling without being very graphic at all. There is very little blood, very little on screen violence and very little to satiate the gore hounds who would inevitably be flocking to this. But I'd honestly be less likely to suggest someone let a younger child or someone with more sensitive sensibilities see this film than something like, say, Hostel, because what is in this film is, to me, much more disturbing, unnerving and hard to wrangle with mentally or intellectually. With almost no gore at all, it takes certain ideas and themes which are at the base core of something like torture, and puts them front and center with a spotlight on them.
I can absolutely see that there would be a contingent of the movie going public, especially a few communities in the horror movie going public who would really just crap all over this film because to them, it wouldn't be scary enough or bloody enough. I can see how there would definitely be people to whom none of this would be very effecting. At the same time, for some odd reason, it got me where I live to a degree which after almost thirty years of obsession with horror films is extremely unusual.
Here's the troublesome aspect of The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Like Trick r' Treat and Paranormal Activity, this film hit the festival circuit in 2007 and was picked up by one of the major film studios. MGM is still sitting on this film and are basically refusing to release it. Though I can't offer any explanation with any absolute conviction, I think I might understand why this film hasn't been released yet. They are in a no win situation as far as the marketing is concerned. There's no way to market this film without setting up public expectation that it will more or less be a "faux-documentary" Saw rip off. If they can't dispel that, the film loses in every way. All of the people going to see a film which they are hoping and expecting to be the same kind of blood soaked festival of gore that something like Saw is are going to be disappointed. The movie going public who are tired of poor imitations of Hostel and the original Saw, are the people who should be seeing this movie, but it's impossible to put together a trailer and marketing campaign which will tell them that without ruining some of the more important aspects of the film and doing that ever more popular, completely useless and stupid thing of telling the entire story, surprises and all, in the trailer.
There is definitely, definitely an audience for this film. That I have no doubt about. It's obvious a good deal of time, and more importantly, thought, was put into this film. The Dowdle Brothers have managed to create a stirring, disturbing and unusual piece of cinema here. It's the kind of thing which would find it's way into some corner of cinema history which future generations of horror fans would visit in their constant quest to satiate their appetites. I don't know this would necessarily become a "cult classic" kind of film, but more something that genre lovers would respect and enjoy and in the future would definitely talk about as among the best of the "faux-documentary" style horror films. It's definitely the kind of thing any future film makers considering venturing into the "faux-doc" style should be advised to see.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes is something I wouldn't have felt cheated to have spent movie theater money on, that I'd recommend to friends with a leaning toward genre films, and I'd give a 7.5 out of 10, possibly an 8.
With the success of Paranormal Activity, will this FINALLY be released?
Posted By: alienfetus at 11:29pm, October 26, 2009
Easily one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen, and I've seen some disturbing ones. I kind of stumbled upon this movie on some website. If I could find out where to buy it, I would.
This movie is a little creepy, I'll give it that. Its not violent enough though. Its rated R for "sadistic violence and torture", and we don't even get to see most of the kills! There is like one violent kill in the whole movie, the rest of the tapes is just the killer screaming at his victims and stuff like that. Anyways, its worth the watch, but since its fake, its kinda hard to get into the movie, cause if you think about it, the whole movie is just people telling you a bunch of crap that didn't happen. If this wouldn't be a documentary, it would probably be better.
Very creepy movie, I heard this was a mock documentary, but it had me guessing by the end. I had to google to know for sure. Definitely worth a watch. Get a hold of it any way you can, even if by illegal download if that's what it takes. You won't be dissapointed.
Wow. What an excellent, powerful, disturbing, intelligent and different film this is. Such a shame that a gem like this never breaks through into mainstream cinema. This is a must see horror/thriller.
I recently watched this film online. It was actually the first horror film in a long time to creep me out. The only downside to this was the running time. It could've been about twenty minutes longer.
slightly better acting really could have saved this film i think.
otherwise with the general creepy feeling from beginning to end and the realistic approach to a fake serial killer documentary i can easily say that this one rocks and worth the time spent watching it
a VERY VERY creepy and unsettling film. i liked it a lot, it was very low budget, but they did a great job. the only thing that bugged me was some of the acting, which was atrocious. other than this it's a great film. they might as well dump it to dvd already, since it's been leaked on the net for quite some times now.
not only my favourite horror movie ever but my favourite movie ever the story is so good and this is the most messed up and legitimately scary movie i have ever seen
Pretty solid movie. I thought that they did the documentary aspect of it pretty well and the found footage looked quite authentic. I really enjoyed this one. It was dark, twisted, and based in reality. Only downside was that it was not as scary or shocking as I thought it would be but do not let that keep you from seeing it. It is still worth your time.
This was probably one of the greatest indie-horror movie I have ever seen since The Blair Witch Project. Not only is it scary, but it's twisted, sadistic, and chilling. It was great but the acting could have been a little better. Overall, it was great.
Great concept undermined by lots of bad acting. It's difficult to suspend disbelief and become involved in the premise when the actors continuously remind you that you're watching a complete fabrication. The last kill is genuinely shocking, but it's just a reminder that the rest of the movie fails so thoroughly to deliver anything involving.
Posted By: Slaser Maniac at 8:55pm, January 26, 2009
One of the best documentary on how a killer takes woman and children. The killer makes his vitoms do horrible stuff such as a girl in one scene was forced to slit another girls throut and were he made a girl dress up in a suit of some kind and make her call him master. I don't even think they caught the killer in the movie( i dont think). The movie had some jumpy scenes and sometimes you can't see whats going on because all the kills are on a camcorder. it was a good movie. See it
Film : The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Original Language : English
Directors/Writers : John Erick & Drew Dowdle
Duration : 1hr 24 mins
Year : 2007 (2008 DVD Release)
Style : Documentary, which includes interviews and re-enactments, and splices of the tapes in question
Cast : Stacy Chbosky as Cheryl Dempsey (main victim) (apparently she's in Quarantine), non-famous actors.
Mindset : Reality
Plot : In the late 90s, a very clever and sick serial killer terrorised some small towns in New York, mostly in a town called Poughkeepsie. The police never find the killer, but they found over 800 videotapes - the killer recorded his stalkings, abuse and killings on tape. This is a documentary of this serial killer's story.
Characters : FBI profilers, Field Agents, Police officers, a pathologist, victim's loved ones - everyone you'd expect to be dealing with a serial killer case.
Plot Progression : The documentary is divided up into stages, from initial murders, missing people, as the police try to track down the killer, littered with FBI profiler's analyses of the killer and input from other people. Kept at a good pace.
Originality: This "film" reminds me SO MUCH of any forensic shows on Living TV etc. eg Forensic Detectives. The production values are so piss-poor - terrible quality of footage, sloppy editing, ugly/boring people giving their POV - it all smacks of Living TV! You can't help but be sucked in to believing that this film is real, that it's a documentary on a real killer, and not a film. This this reason, and that I haven't seen anything recently like this, I'd say it's quite original. Good job!
Age rating : What's the age rating of the Living TV stuff? There's not much blood, but the content is very morbid. So 15s.
Mindset : We listen to detectives etc speak about the killer's atrocities and crime scenes etc, as the story unfolds. This is set in reality, deadly serious, punctuated by splices of the 'horrific' scenes from the tapes.
Plot devices : There's no cheap ways out, besides the obvious! It's just a straight-forward documentary on a serial killer. Unfortunately, two things do stop suspension of disbelief - the 911 call (which I suppose would be ok if the family allowed it) but really, it was when
***SPOILER ALERT!!***
when the slave girl slit the throat of a hooker. It looked so God-damn fake. I would give out that, given a sharp metal object, the girl captive would've tried to kill her captor, but it does make sense in the end.
Good parts :
A fantastic story point was the interview with Cheryl, and the aftermath. It seemed eerily real. The whole Cheryl story was very good, actually.
One of the torture scenes where the girl is contorted while tied up is pretty sick. And when the guy is shouting at the hooker to burst the balloon is unnerving. Good job!
***END OF SPOILER ALERT***
Budget : Cheap as friggin' chips. And not many chips. I've you've ever seen Crime Scene Investigators or Investigation of a Crime Scene or Forensic Detectives - it's just like that. Except a lot of it seems to be shot in the bloody 70s. Cheap, cheap, cheap. It really lends to a more credible film. A director couldn't possibly trod out stuff in such shit quality, could he? Suspension of disbelief is strengthened!
Special Effects : Are you having a laugh? Besides what's mentioned in the spoiler section, no. Holy God this couldn't be more indie.
Overall : This film looks like it was made 30 or so years ago. It's bush-league production really lends credence to the whole film. I enjoyed watching the film start to finish, and by the end, had me wondering if it was real - straight on the internet for me! Besides a few minor details, it really could be taken as kayfabe (i.e. real). I quite enjoyed it but I reckon a lot of horror fans would see it as a load of toss.
Jay's Verdict : Enjoyable, would recommend if you want your horror a bit different.
THE HORROR HYPE METER Excited to see this movie? Rate it here!
