The Poughkeepsie Tapes

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The Poughkeepsie Tapes

R

2007

1h 26m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

50%

Tomatometer

6 Reviews

50%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Hundreds of video tapes of torture, murder and dismemberment show a killer's decadelong reign of terror.

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

07/12/2024

1.5/4

The Poughkeepsie Tapes would lodge in the memory but its impact is fleeting. That’s because, for all its skill, it has nothing to say and no real story to tell.

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Tony Black

Cultural Conversation

02/16/2021

4/5

A horrific gem. One of the great found footage pictures and indeed the faux documentary genre.

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Gabriel Ricard

Cultured Vultures

10/23/2019

6/10

The Poughkeepsie Tapes isn't a classic, but it's an engaging horror mockumentary nonetheless.

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David Keyes

Cinemaphile.org

10/13/2014

2/4

The movie thinks too diminutively of human intelligence, even by horror film standards.

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Brian Orndorf

Blu-ray.com

08/07/2014

D+

With every revelation that could give the Dowdles something to play with, they head right back into the basement, convinced audiences would rather watch close-ups of throat-slittings and teary yelps of pain.

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Jason Morgan

Filmcritic.com

05/12/2009

4/5

it's the killer's bizarre motivations that truly terrify

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Itzel L

@Itzibitzi 14h

Would absolutely not recommend. Acting was not good, neither was the script. A real documentary wouldn’t be so unserious so it never felt scary because it was so clearly fake. I think this was just a fet*sh film for the director.

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pepsita

@pepsita Jan 23

I nearly started thinking that this might be real mid watch. This is insane.

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Chloe A

@Chloe7 Jan 20

It’s average! Expected more from what I’d read

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BigD J

@Jerminator Jan 13

Much akin to Lake Mungo, the acting is difficult to stomach. There’s plenty of horror with bad acting but still manages to remain entertaining and it doesn’t affect the outcome of the film. The fake video cassette look with boring dialogue immediately took away from the effect. I’d much prefer a flic like Phoenix Tapes 97. Potential was there, but the mockumentary fakeness and contrived acting watered it down quite a bit. Still pretty disturbing though, I’ll give it that.

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Luka R

@Lukaradumilo87 Jan 4

Not perfect but great concept and it's well made

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Dean S.

@DeanDFW Dec 27

This is a very boring movie: a great concept that was wasted here.

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John Erick Dowdle

Director

Stacy Chbosky

Cheryl Dempsey

Ben Messmer

Ed

Samantha Robson

Samantha

Ivar Brogger

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Synopsis

Hundreds of video tapes of torture, murder and dismemberment show a killer's decadelong reign of terror.

Director: John Erick Dowdle
Screenwriter: Drew Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle
Production Co: Brothers Dowdle Productions, Poughkeepsie Films
Rating: R (Graphic Descriptions|Terror|Sadistic Violence and Torture)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 2, 2020
Runtime: 1h 26m