Review of The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) by Nicholas R — 31 Jul 2010

Firstly, I went into it with a pretty open mind, I didn't realise it was a mockumentary, so I was pleasantly surprised by this narrative choice instead of it being a bog-standard serial killer flick.

Secondly, what a wonderfully gruesome and difficult film to watch!? Due to the poor quality of the hand held camera and the poor natural lighting throughout, the gore is quite subdued (naked cadaver aside) and the typical torture porn sub-genre it got thrown into is totally incorrect. The film allows you to see, but not with the Hollywood glee of a Hostel or a Saw film, but instead of hints, a flash of a blade here, a silhouette there. Much is left up to the viewers imagination, which makes the whole thing much more uncomfortable to watch than the aforementioned Hostel or Saw films.

Horror films generally suffer from bad acting, or over acting. It comes with the territory really, they're dirt cheap to make and the psychological reactions to such extreme situations are difficult for even the more seasoned actors to pull off without going into parody or pastiche. The Poughkeepsie Tapes has some fine acting, from almost everybody, but especially the actress who plays the poor Cheryl.

A genuinely upsetting, grimy little film that I found myself captivated with and really intrigued by. It's such a shame it's been sitting on the shelf somewhere waiting to get a proper distribution deal.