The Poughkeepsie Tapes

2007 "The Terror is Real"
6| 1h21m| R| en
Details

When hundreds of videotapes showing torture, murder and dismemberment are found in an abandoned house, they reveal a serial killer's decade-long reign of terror and become the most disturbing collection of evidence homicide detectives have ever seen.

Director

Producted By

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Trailers & Clips

Also starring Stacy Chbosky

Also starring Ben Messmer

Also starring Lou George

Reviews

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
DBLurker This whole mockumentary has interviews with profilers, cops and detectives praising this killer as elusive and dangerously smart at evading and misleading the authorities.Except the tapes themselves show him as a careless individual who almost get's caught by two little girls selling cookies. Ignoring the unbelievably tame tapes themselves (I don't really find "gore" scary when it's overdone), the fact that the killer goes around recording everything, even at his own crime-scene with cops around, would get him caught REALLY fast. The killer is basically like one of those attention-seekers who keep recording themselves and posting it on Twitter and Instagram for the world to see. And what exactly was he recording on? That camera's battery lasts longer than most cameras these days.I got hyped up with people recommending this movie, and it's a dud with a LOT of "logic" (it is trying to present itself as a documentary) issues that can't even be ignored cause of "suspension of disbelief". That excuse doesn't work when you are making a documentary and pretending to have a story of a serial killer that is the smartest killer every born, while he's saved by camera cuts and fade-outs instead of a proper explanation/excuse.Waste of time.
KineticSeoul I remember this movie being advertised a long long time ago and wondered why it wasn't hitting theaters. With the success of the found footage genre when it comes to profit. They probably wanted to cash in, but they put some thought into this one. Not to say this has a lot of psychological depth or anything like that. But it does have that gritty and raw feel to it that was prevalent in the 80's. This is basically a fake found footage movie that goes is a sort of trippy and psychedelic direction when it comes to how it was shot. The routine torture and murder seemed to drag on and on and would have been somewhat effective if the acting was good. But you can clearly tell the actors were well...Acting. I know that sometimes the mystery adds to the fear effect, but a bit more psychological depth would have made it more effective. I mean this is a fake found footage and documentary about a serial killer and rapist. Who is crazy and yet very methodical and knows how to frame and clean up the evidence. I will say that when it delved into one of the victims Cheryl Dempsey's story-line it did get a bit interesting with the stockholm syndrome and all. The first hour was routine and tedious, however after a hour into the movie it does get a bit intriguing but it takes too long to get to that point. Overall, if you are into the horror genre it's watchable.5.5/10
InfinateANGELzPORTALz I really liked how its a totally different form&approach-more like a"Mock-umentary/Documentary"style,where the actors/characters are literally doing great,directed well w/what their parts directions go,adding great in combination w/the movies unveils!I love my various forms of Sci-Fi's,&of course Horror-type movies,they're my Top Favs(although I've seen my fair share of HUGE Movie Flops,even ones w/bigger Movie Budgets)!!I felt its all around,really great w/the overall movies story line concept.Most horror flicks have the usual things they're known for,like killing,blood guts&gore(not to forget the musics used for added dramatic effect in building up to an event during the movies beginning to end),&so on.Although,@the same time,they can also end up being pretty much another carbon-copy type of thing,or to where its even just flat out predictable,etc.But this one(without saying any Spoilers),as Id said before,uses a different angle,that to me feels like it also kind of uses the movies characters lines,&also how theyd been directed.Its what made me feel as though it was intentionally done this way,so each viewer interprets the movie using more of there minds thought process.To where I"filled in the blanks",w/the director uses more of the acting,so I come up w/my Own Interpretations&the feelings I get as I watched on,such as horrific pictures in my mind,my heart thumping thrill feeling, shared w/the dramatic,&/or mysteries from things said,described(or in some various parts that are shown,rather than having the "fed to me" of dramatic feelings(rather than through music effects&other traditionally used methods fed pretty much on a plate...Bottom line is everyone has their own opinions,and if you're every in the mood to try,I hope others give this movie a shot w/watching though!!
DogFilmCritic I saw this on TV, on of those nights were you just can't sleep and found this...let's not call it a hidden gem, but man it kept you on your seat.This movie took a lot of effort and research, at times it actually felt like a real documentary, the acting was pretty good as well. You actually feel disturb in some scenes specially the ones with kids. As the FAQs says they made a lot or research on actual serial killers and their bizarre behavior with the victims, it's very shocking.I don't understand why this movie is so "hidden" it's one of the few found footage (some of it) that's feels accurate to why it's tape the way it is. With a few plot holes involving a suspect,this movie is very gripping and shocking. I say give it a watch