The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Wow, was this ever uncomfortable. Not that it's scary, but it's like watching your uncles make out.

I must have watched a completely different movie from a lot of my fellow reviewers, because I don't remember any rape scenes... I remember people talking about rape, but no scenes where it actually happens. People are throwing around the words "torture porn" constantly, but this is much more tame and less indulgent than the likes of Saw and Hostel. It's a solid horror movie with a nice documentary twist on the "found footage" genre.

Hard to watch and generally creepy. Never since Blair Witch has a found footage horror film felt so real. Although they accomplished this by going Mocukmentary route so the film suffers from inherit pacing issues and subplots that are not fully developed. And until the killer starts the first 20 minutes of back story is a bore. But this is one of those movies that will stay with you for a while after watching it.

I'm thoroughly shocked people aren't ranking this higher. From every standpoint, this film works. Just look at the effort that was put into making the tapes themselves look authentic. Besides the kudos I have to give to the actual production of the film, it does serve to a) effectively freak out the audience and b) lampoon the audience for being into true crime documentary in the first place. Bravo. Genius. The defense rests.

Creeped the bejeezus out of me. Way more so that Paranormal Activity.

It was well made and all but shit, I hate this post-Saw torture horror. Watched it by accident and now can't get images out of my head. Basic serial killer horror's moved to tv. We no longer get Se7ven or Bone Collectior, it's all Criminal Minds and Dexter nowadays.

The goal is to make you feel deeply uncomfortable, and it succeeded in my case. A lot depends on the believability; the documentary elements were pulled off pretty well and draw you into the dark revelations of the film. The tapes themselves vary from deeply disturbing to a bit silly (the killer in theatrical garb trying to be menacing didn't work for me). Amusing closing statement regarding the killer probably watching it in the theater.. WITH YOU! Effective horror, but would not watch again.

This Was Pretty Bad

Mimics a true crime documentary, interspersed with killer-cam "tapes" that would never feature in an actual such documentary. Most of the execution is a disaster in terms of dialogue and acting, though there are moments that hint at what could have been a better movie, such as the police-car sequence where we get a few minutes of good acting by a short-lived victim.

berbo

2024'de #IzlediğimFilmler ; 50. The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) Uzun zamandır izlediğim en başarılı "Found footage/ mockumentary" diyebilirim. 8/10

The guy who watches all the tapes from King of Kong should have been cast as the FBI guy who watches all of the tapes in this.

This film reeks of Gen X since it is about how oblivious society is and the codependent relationships set up by strong (Boomerish) authority figures and their penchant for control. The serial killer side of it compiles a number of known cases into a true nightmare, but the real damage is psychological as we watch the remnants of characters and society stumble forward in deliberate ignorance in order to maintain a sense that things are going well as the rot spreads.

A somewhat effective faux documentary, but it exists merely to titillate, not to be mysterious or make its audience think.

the recreation of the documentary style was good enough, just as cheesy as they can be. Though once this is pushed aside, all that is left is basically people telling you "wow this guy is fucked up, very fucked up, but he is so smart he keeps bamboozling us lol. So smart, wow he is playing the 4D chess of serial killing!". This feels like what a Joker worshipper would want to hear being said about themselves

Poughkeepsie tapes used the documentary format perfectly for horror. I have seen many found footage and mockumentary horror films and even though this was filmed over a decade ago it still felt fresh, original, and real.

I can understand why this movie has proven to be pretty divisive. It certainly doesn't follow a typical story arc and doesn't offer any sort of catharsis or satisfaction to the viewer. It's bleak down to the bone with no glimmer of hope and no answers or even resolution to offer. It has one straightforward goal and hammers on it hard. I give a movie a lot of credit and a lot of respect if it can make me really feel something on a visceral level, and this did. It successfully got under my skin

It veers way too much into torture p*rn, but when it doesn't do that and actually tries to be somewhat of a good movie it's able to be tense and engaging enough.

Surprisingly effective found footage film that gives you just enough to unsettle.

The shock value in this fake documentary comes from the few but rather extreme scenes of brutality. There's not really much aside from that, as there is no real insight on the serial killer other than he is some kind of mastermind of killing. Passes the time and it earns a few points for originality.

Top badass moment? The wardrobe full of video tapes. All there'd be nowadays are a couple of titchy memory cards in an envelope; that's just not going to have the same impact. If I ever decide to film all my misdemeanours then I’m going to at least get a decent camera. These serial killer types really don’t think through the cinematography of what they’re up to. It doesn't have to be IMAX friendly, just get a clean image. Please! 2 decapitations (1 pre-prepared), no cats or chainsaws.

I hated this.

i don't feel good

some good visuals, otherwise amateurish and boring

Is this satire?

Somewhere in the end there were maybe 3 moments that were scary, but overall this was a big dissapointment. I didn't believe for a second that it was real footage, and this is your main goal in a found-footage film.

The film feels like it was written by a bunch of middle schoolers competing over who can come up with the most depraved shit possible. Some of it isn't far off from acts committed by famous real-life serial killers, but knowing somebody painstakingly penned this movie to be as shocking as possible just makes it come acrosss like an Aristocrats joke that's taking itself 100% seriously. (1/5)

It's just torture porn. The scenes that don't involve rape and dismemberment and gore are pretty creepy, but they're few and far between.

Perhaps not the most original psychological horror movie, perhaps not the most groundbreaking horrir flick either but not only does it build incredible atmosphere, it is also completely and utterly scary and horrifying. Perhaps it has more effect if you live in the States but personally, I still felt quite uncomfortable after watching it and I love in Denmark. Brings the tone that Paranormal Activity should have had and the horror that SAW should have had. And not a single cat-scare; must watch.

I especially liked when it was semi-implied that the killer foresaw 9/11 and used it to his advantage. This is a comedy, right?

Kudos to the filmmakers for making something that appears realistic, but man, never has serial killing been so utterly boring.

"The Poughkeepsie Tapes" is a mockumentary about a killer who video tapes his murders and torture. Most of the movie is, what looks to be, VHS footage that the killer took, and everything else is set up as a documentary on the killings. I found it believable for the most part, aside from some of the actors in the documentary portion. But the reason to watch this is, of course, for the murder sections. They do very much with very little. They're very scary and realistic.

Tiresome faux-documentary hampered by poor production values, bad acting and unrealistic dialogue. I realise that it was made with a low budget, but the acting feels so forced and unnatural that it never allows you to immerse yourself into the film. The fake camera distortion on the tapes is distracting, too. The killer supposedly spent all those years making video tapes, you'd think he'd buy a decent camera, no? Tedious and annoying - I considered turning it off several times.

Terrible acting and some lousy dialogues ruin a good idea. The bit about "the missed one" was really creepy though.

there is a few moments in here that are really scary...from a reality standpoint..esp the child abduction scene..but the movie s selling points the tapes were so poorly shot I know its suppose to feel like they were real...but even a real person would have had better quality