The Poughkeepsie Tapes: A Ranty Review
Trigger Warning: Murder, Torture
It all started with TikTok. I was scrolling through the app one night and came across multiple horror accounts listing off some of the scariest horror movies they’d ever seen. My opinion about some of the movies listed can be discussed at a later time, because the point I’m trying to make is that on most of the lists was the horror movie The Poughkeepsie Tapes.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a mockumentary written and directed by John Erick Dwindle. This shocking found footage horror movie tells the story of a faceless killer. The film is composed of home videos he’s taken of torturing and murdering his victims, investigation interviews, and news coverages of the crimes. While the “documentary” that the filmmakers in The Poughkeepsie Tapes are making is about the killer and his ingenious style of torture and murder, the narrative starts to focus on Cheryl Dempsey.
Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007, The Poughkeepsie Tapes never got a theatrical release despite being marketed for one. I tried to figure out why that happened and all I could find were rumors and speculations. One rumor was that it had poor reception at Tribeca. Another was that audiences wouldn’t be ready for the graphic content since it was advertised as a “based on real events,” movie. A third speculation was how it could’ve been pulled so that the town of Poughkeepsie wouldn’t be upset and misrepresented by a fictional killer. In the early 90’s there had been a real Poughkeepsie serial killer. Honestly the idea of seeing this movie in a theater terrifies me, so while it would’ve been awesome to have a theatrical release, maybe MGM was right to not do it.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes succeeds at what found footage films set out to do. Audiences go to found footage films expecting to feel shocked and scared under the guise that what’s presented to them is real, and everything about this movie felt authentic to me. I like the jarring cuts between the video footage and interviews or news scenes because it sometimes works as a way to jump scare the audience. The way the “tapes” depict VHS quality is perfect to me, and the deterioration of some of the footage adds to the authenticity of the movie.
What ruins the sense of disbelief when watching a found footage movie is the acting. The acting in The Poughkeepsie Tapes felt too real at times. The killer is named in the credits as Edward Carver and is played by Ben Messmer, and, while we never fully see his face, his voice is haunting. When Messmer is fully on screen he’s wearing a mask and his performance is memorable. Stacy Chbosky plays Cheryl Dempsey and gives an emotional performance. Without spoiling how things end for this special victim, I’ll say that Chbosky’s portrayal of Stockholm syndrome is heartbreaking. I have to give credit to everyone who starred in the movie because their performances add to the authenticity. Whether it’s the FBI investigators doing an interview or shots of another victim falling to their demise, the acting had me speechless.
If you search for lists of disturbing movies, The Poughkeepsie Tapes is likely to be on that list. A few years ago this movie finally got a physical release thanks to Scream Factory. Prior to that, it didn’t have a theatrical release and apparently had a brief VOD appearance, so one of the only ways you could apparently find this movie was through torrents. A lot of reviews and articles I read about the movie talked about how it never being seen anywhere may have added to its hype and reputation as a graphic found footage horror movie. When that type of hype gets thrown at a movie I sometimes try to find the movie to see what it’s all about. Sometimes those hyped up movies deemed too graphic and banned from countries can fall very short and actually be the worst thing ever. The Poughkeepsie Tapes doesn’t fall short, it sets a new standard which found footage films should be striving to meet. I feel it is the superior found footage film beating The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.
TikTok should’ve hyped this one up more.
4/5
