The Poughkeepsie Tapes poster & wallpaper

Amy Lyndon, Ben Messmer, Ivar Brogger

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 collecti...( read more  read more... )on of evidence homicide detectives have ever seen.

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43% liked it

26,863 ratings

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Directed by: John E. Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle

Release Date: February 2, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (676)

  • MalumMosIncrebresco
    November 25, 2009
    MalumMosIncrebresco
    I have a strange, irrational feeling that most people will not like The Poughkeepsie Tapes.

    I trust that all the idiotic doubts as to whether this movie was or wasn't based on true events are dissipated by now. It does not use real footage, nor is it based on true events, other ...( read more)than being loosely inspired by the serial killer case of Kendall Francois, a redneck-like creature who lived in Poughkeepsie, NY and killed several prostitutes in the Poughkeepsie area, during the late 90s. Therefore in this case, reality is much more dull and uninteresting than fiction.

    The serial killer portrayed in this movie is far from being a redneck. His level of disturbance surpasses the normal definition of insanity. His boundaries go way beyond the mundane concept of murder and torture. His means are much more than a simple sadistic self-indulgence.

    But I digress.
    Plus, I am starting to sound like an admirer more than anything else.
    And I hate to digress.

    If one already knows what to expect when one chooses to watch The Poughkeepsie Tapes, and if one is still willing to do so, then it's highly probable that this will result in a rewarding, albeit draining experience. I suppose it falls under the category of those movies that either draw you or don't. And if they do, then this work is highly conceptualized and executed to capture your attention, interest and emotions throughout.

    The camera work is one of a supposed documentary enriched with parts of real footage, i.e. steady filmed interviews crossed with shaky, dark and sometimes unclear shots of what was supposedly filmed by the human centerpiece of this movie. But, even without showing too much, several scenes are haunting in the little they show and in what they make you feel, and will be haunted by what your perception adds to them. That is probably one of the greatest achievements of this cinematic effort.

    Almost every single actor in this movie is anonymous, and can't act (although there are a few and notable exceptions). The latter would account for two things:

    1) the reason why they are anonymous;

    2) (in this very specific case,) the higher degree of realism depicted, which creeps inside your skin while you watch what's being unfolded before your eyes: a horrific display of human psychopathy, relentless, uncompromising, with the satisfaction of the Id as its sole motivator, and with no feelings other than the visceral ones resulting from his actions.

    The Poughkeepsie Tapes, an unexpected, disturbing and obscure pleasure for the eye and for the deepest, untapped realms of your soul.

    Enjoy.

    (Hint: four out of five means they could still do better.)
  • creepfreak
    March 7, 2009
    creepfreak
    I believe if you were to give Ted Bundy a video camera at the age of 14 and tell him to direct a movie you'd have something like The Poughkeepsie Tapes. What we have here is a film(if you can even call it that) with a bunch of sick ideas, but it's put together in the works of a c...( read more)hild. There is no skill here, but simply just an idea as horrifying as Gary M. Heidnik's psyche results, but filmed by a man who seemingly never watched a documentary film in his life. Being that low attention spans can do this to you I'll try expressing some compassion for this hack and focus more on shitty casting directors. I mean someone needs to be blamed for this mess other than John E. Dowdle, director of Poughkeepsie Tapes, and since the actors were tolerant enough to put up with this atrocity I'll respectably lay off and center my accusations on the casting director, assuming he was on Nitrous Oxide at the time. I have seen better performances in a porno film. Oddly it sometimes takes one person to break the stride of a group related disaster, which is why I'm surprised no one on set told Dowdle he was in the middle of making a shit-bomb almost worse than a Disney version of August Underground's Mordum. But who's really to blame?

    Yes, at times The Poughkeepsie Tapes can be utterly disturbing, but only because there's a true idea of a psychopathic lifestyle on display here. It's too bad the killer seems too much like the actual actor failing to desperately play the killer. It's fu*king embarrassing to watch, and the sad part is it's mostly performed behind a camera. This pitiful display of overdramatized behavior shows the actor's talentless ability through his vocals alone! I really hope no one hires this guy to do the next voice over in Shrek, otherwise we'll have riots with hundreds of little disappointed children. Nothing in The Poughkeepsie Tapes is believable because of this. For those looking for something extreme, in fact even more extreme, I suggest reading from the crime library instead(www.trutv.com/library/crime/). It's much more in depth, and it's actually "true", without any shitty acting or dialogue(which is almost worse than the acting) to ruin your guilty pleasures. And for those looking for an actual Snuff film, well...good luck! You can start your journey by searching for the Paul and Karla Homolka film tapes.

    On a higher note, some visuals in The Poughkeepsie Tapes are truly effective and creepy, and it's followed by a chilling score throughout. The most standout out of spine tingling moments for me would be the killer's "spiderwalk" toward the ending, and the victim who's forced to slash another victim. The last interview in the movie(with the main victim) is also the film's high point. It's a deeply sad and heart shattering moment that sends a chill indeed. Yes, it had it's moments! BUT, it wasn't enough to save it from it's mess. Horrbile acting, an atrociously lame script, and plot holes up the ass. What could have truly been something turned out to be pretty much nothing. The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a film that has "potential" written all over it. As bad as it is though, there were quite some scenes that chilled me enough to give this 2 stars. Other than that there was nothing. Just an empty mess with the smell of a turd to weigh it down. Boo hoo.

    Hopefully "Quarantine" will change my image of John E. Dowdle. Sometimes we're entitled a second chance.
  • kiriyamakazou
    January 26, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    As a mockumentary it is an absolute failure. This is because it is never believable, killings would never be shown in such a film and the acting was poor and obviously scripted. Also why would a real documentary start with somebody asking "Are you filming?". The only reason this ...( read more)would have to be done would be to establish that it WAS a documentary, which no documentary needs to do. Some of the scenes are disturbing and I think the film should have just been shot through the killers eyes. The cheapness also leads to some poorly handled and offensive digs at 9/11 and victims of such crimes. Obvious in its twists and turns which dampen the effects of the truly chilling moments, such as the weird double mask walk.
  • silentbob66
    February 23, 2009
    silentbob66
    When a bunch of boxes containing what seems to be a endless amount of video tapes is found inside a abandoned house little do cops know that on these tapes is the decade long reign of a very violent and sick serial killer thats the starting off point for this Mockumentary that fo...( read more)llows the story of a brutal killer that liked to violently torture his victims in many different ways. This was a hard movie to review cause it had alot of good points and also alot of bad i enjoyed it for the most part and would recommend it for a one time watch the story if interesting but the acting could have been more believeable for me.
  • cacutshaw
    January 8, 2009
    cacutshaw
    I didn't know whether audiences would ever see this one. I remember it being advertised over a year ago, then disappearing completely. Maybe it would have worked better back then, though I doubt it.
    A fake documentary on a brilliant serial killer who is always several steps ahe...( read more)ad of the authorities is interesting, but not engrossing. I was waiting for some kind of revelation, some new development that would make it go beyond just a make believe serial killer, but it wasn't to come. It was rather disappointing that I had to view the torture and deaths and then in the end, there was really nothing to them. Just, "Boy is this serial killer ever smart". Whoop-de-do. Still, it's well made and as long as your hopes aren't high it's moderately entertaining, though not one of the better serial killer mockumentaries.
  • ahhh1989
    October 15, 2009
    ahhh1989
    I keep blocking it out of my head because it's such an ill-conceived idea.
  • LYNNWOODS04
    September 11, 2009
    LYNNWOODS04
    Its had mixed reviews and I am not sure about if I wanna see it or not.. for now its a no.. but I may change my mind..
  • engrymfilm
    July 28, 2009
    engrymfilm
    Here's the deal with this bucket of Sleestak turds:

    The surge of low budget/straight to DVD or modestly budgeted/limited theatrical release horror movies that's been a running fad for the last five or six years are running the genre into the ground.

    People don't know what's sca...( read more)ry anymore. If it's not a CGI ghost or monster then it's 'real horror' you know like seeing a murder through the camera of a serial killer kind of thing. Save that shit. Seems like no one likes the idea of putting horror to a rest for now until people come up with something that's decent. But since that hasn't/wont happen it's the reason why movies like Poughkeepsie Tapes gets made.

    Stop all the nu-metal realist horror bullshit. All the scares are forced for the sake of shock value. But the worst part is the script... and there's really nothing more to go off of. The script seems like it was written by a 14 year old kid who just watched 'SAW' and thinks all of a sudden they can make horror movies... but I wouldn't be surprised if that's who this filmmaker was, just a little older and instead of SAW it might have been 'HENRY'. Point is, watching movies doesn't mean you automatically have the talent to make them.
  • TobyLinn
    June 4, 2009
    TobyLinn
    I found this movie very creepy as I didn't recognize any actors so it seemed like it was a real documentary about a serial killer......kept me glued to my seat the entire time!
  • rRavenseyes1
    May 6, 2009
    rRavenseyes1
    Incredibly disturbing...

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Comments

  • alexz1368
    May 18, 2008
    alexz1368
    This totally is a true story!!! I grew up in Poughkeepsie, it was all over the news!!! EWW that's creepy!!!
  • ma52595
    December 2, 2007
    ma52595
    i just want to know...is this a true story?? or is it just a regular hollywood movie??..can anyone tell me.?
  • Halloweenjunkie
    April 27, 2007
    Halloweenjunkie
    I have been seeing stuff about this movie everywhere. I am going to go see it on Sat at Tribeca Film Festival. Its playing tonight as well (April 27th). Im pretty sure it will frighten even horror fanatics.
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