The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Okay so this homemade small market film was written/directed and produced on a shoestring budget, and thus the results were not expected to be of epic proportions as the much bigger budget(s) of either The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and/or Hannibal (2001). Knowing in advance that the Poughkeepsie Tapes was produced and directed by independent film makers I wasn't expecting an Academy Award winning performance in the acting and/or the cinematography, but what I did get was an impressive enough THRILLER genre film which kept my interest sustained throughout.

No doubt there are many areas of improvement that can be recommended for The Poughkeepsie Tapes, but not for the miniscule budget and short timeline (30 days?) that the film makers most likely had to work within. I am taking into consideration what others may have been able to accomplish with the same restrictions that this team had and I must say that I am impressed with their end result.

I make no false claims as it is a grade B level film at best, but having said that I have watched a heck of a lot of films with 100-1,000 times larger budgets and timelines and with major Hollywood stars promoting their less than stellar films that were a lot worse than the Poughkeepsie Tapes.

I have zero affiliation with the film makers so please do not assume I am providing a generous complimentary review as I am no more than an enthusiastic film lover of the Thriller/Serial Killer genre and if you are too than please appreciate this Grade B film for what is their end result on a shoestring budget and a 30 day timeline (I found this tidbit out by watching the writer/director extras included on the Blu Ray release)

A decent 6 out of 10 rating

An interview at the Tribeca Film Fest with director John Dowdle revealed - when asked if this movie is based on an actual killer in Poughkeepsie - that (and I quote): "It's actually a combination of a number of them, but there's one -- Edmund Kemper. He was a really, really scary guy and we took a lot of pieces from him and we took some from the Green River Killer. There was a guy in Chicago we took pieces from. There was a duo in Michigan who worked together and filmed everything they did, and we took some stuff from them. Some from Ted Bundy too. So we sort of combined a lot of different real stories. Remember that couple that kidnapped a 19-year old girl and kept her as a slave for six years? We took pieces of that as well." So all of you out there insisting that this is a true story about a Poughkeepsie killer who video-taped his murders are making fools of yourselves.

After having watched THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES for so many years online, it's odd to have a "legitimate" release of the film now available. In a way, it's bitter-sweet, since it had enjoyed such a dark, mythic life on the internet. The "tapes" are suitably gritty, grimy, and at times, difficult to watch. From the first abduction / murder (of a child), to the last, the atmosphere is bleak, doom-filled, and insane.

The stalking of Cheryl Dempsey, takes us along like co-conspirators while this madman operates. One scene in particular, wherein the killer creeps up on his victim on all fours like some sort of animal, is truly unforgettable, generating quite an uncomfortable viewing experience! Like something found by accident on the dark net!

Upon first viewing TPT, one is struck by its realism. Its "documentary" style makes it feel all the more like this guy could actually be "out there" somewhere.

Of course, this is also art reflecting reality, since we all know about the state of our world. Hell, in a sense, the killer in TPT does exist / has existed. Any casual viewing of COLD CASE FILES, FORENSIC FILES, etc., bears this out. Having grown up on Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, et al,, imagine stumbling upon their video collections! TPT delivers that sort of terror, making us very uneasy in the process.

Is it perfect? No, but it is very effective.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS MOVIE: #1- Never leave your children unattended, even in your front yard.

#2- Never let a stranger into your car. Ever!

#3- Do NOT allow your children to sell cookies door-to-door.

#4- Never get too comfortable in your own home. And don't think your boyfriend can help you!

#5- When will we ever learn to NOT accept rides from strangers? Just don't do it, folks!...

The Ploughkeepsie Tapes is an absolutely awful movie. It's not even a movie, I would call it a slaughter/torture porn film for people to watch in groups during sleepovers to scare each other. This movie is written by people with the minds of teenagers, for people with the minds of teenagers.

There's very little purpose for the movie other than to utterly horrify the viewer with gruesome details of a fake serial killer. At one point the police go into extreme detail about the intestines of a victim being ripped out and "laying on the floor like Christmas lights". There's absolutely no realism. I didn't believe for a second that it was anything but a mockumentary. The acting and writing were atrocious.

It's pretty much Blair Witch Project meets Saw. It's the mockumentary style which has been done many, many times. It's been done a lot better in Blair Witch, Cloverfield, and dare I say, Diary of the Dead.

And unlike Saw and Blair Witch, there are no characters to root for, all the viewer gets is screaming victims, who are introduced, murdered or survive and get tortured.

This film is pretty much the equivalent to a sucker punch to the balls. You know those youtube videos where nothing is happening and then someone pops up and screams very loudly? That's what this movie is. I'm not sure who enjoyed this movie? Probably the same people who think Ouija boards are scary.

Based on the trailer for THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES I thought I was going to hate this movie – not because it looked disturbing but because it looked really lame. Truth is – it is a little lame, BUT the movie has a lot more creative juice than I was expecting and ultimately I found myself enjoying it. Similar to J.T. Petty's S&MAN or Remy Belvaux & Andre Bonzel's MAN BITES DOG, THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES is a pseudo documentary about a serial killer. While S&MAN and MAN BITES DOG are superior films, THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES excels due to its strict adherence to/understanding of the documentary format. Personally I didn't find the film as disturbing or horrific as I assume it was trying to be, however it did contain enough well thought out moments to convince me that the writer and director had done their horror homework (in particular a very William Castle "esque" sound bite/moment toward the film's finale). 2 little notes: the first 15 minutes are kind of slow so give the movie time AND I don't see this as a "theater" movie (I saw a DVD screener). THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES feels like a small screen movie. Have a few beers and toss it on during a late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.