Review of The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) by Tom T — 01 Oct 2015

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is the first mainstream horror film from the Dowdle brothers who have been making solid genre entries ever since; yet almost no one has seen their debut film due to a bizarre lack of distribution.

This is a found footage/mockumentary film that is obviously poised to be the next, Blair Witch Project, but for unknown reasons the film was pulled from theatrical release and has never seen the light of day on DVD/Blu-ray either; the only way to view this is by streaming it online.

Mythology aside, this is an extremely disturbing horror film that plays out all-too-real scenarios of graphic murder (based on actual crimes) that is designed to shock, but at times I felt it pushed the boundary too far.

Mimicking the style of the Blair Witch Project, we view investigators recanting the crime scenes, news reports discussing the serial killer, and interviews with the victims' families; all while viewing the tapes ourselves.

It's effectiveness is in it's simplicity with some of the footage not lit properly and the grain on the tapes leaves most of what you're supposed to see to your imagination. This is all of course fake, but the believable acting and gritty filmmaking make it 100% uncomfortable to watch and was not a pleasant experience.

I "enjoyed" the film as an undiscovered secret and my mixed emotions are obviously a sign of an impactful film, but unlike the Blair Witch Project where it centers around a supernatrual entity, this deals with cold-blooded murder and it's a little too much to take at times.

Not quite the level of a video nasty (i.e. Cannibal Holocaust) but it sure leaves an impression.