Finally, after almost a year of waiting, I've finally been able to see this movie. I first saw the trailer when seeing Cloverfield, and it had said that it was to come out February 8th, 2008. But the movie was pulled out of theaters just a day before the release, which really pissed me off. I've sifted through the Intranet trying to find any information of the movie that could possibly tell me when it was to be released, when finally a few sites had said January 2nd. I waited for the day to come, and when it did, there was nothing.

But luckily, we have technology and some people were able to post some links to some pirated versions of the movie!

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a mockumentary about police finding over 800 video tapes shot by a sadistic serial killer, who also becomes known as the "Water Street butcher," and includes the stalking, torturing, and killing of his victims. Throughout this mockumentary, there are also interviews with police and FBI agents about the whereabouts of the killer and the strategies he used to kill his victims and how he left the bodies, along with interviews with the victims' families.


I was pumped to watch this movie once I downloaded it onto my computer and I was really hoping that it would be worth staying up a bit late on a school night. I think I got my fair share of entertainment here, feeling a bit creeped out after watching some this, especially because of how real it felt.

Acting - I'll start with the bad, first. The interviews with family, friends, and officers and agents weren't the best parts and kind of took away from the realism of the film. The acting was mediocre and I didn't really feel sympathy for some of the families, while with the officers, some of their performances didn't seem to fit and I would think to myself, "I'm not sure this is how someone would act after watching these tapes."

Though, the best acting came from the tapes, especially from the victims. The way they acted out fear was the best I've ever seen in any horror movie to date. People cried, stuttered, had that hyperventilation effect whenever you cry (you know, the whole short, quick breaths as if someone punched you in the gut and you couldn't breathe to well when you cry). I actually thought some of this was real, and I remember reading somewhere that for some of the tapes, to actually catch the realism, they'd go after the actors at unexpected times to catch the realism of how they'd react if someone were to actually try and kill them.

Realism - When it comes to shaky camera movies these days, you can't really see what's going on because people don't seem to know how to hold cameras in these types of movies. But in this movie, even when the killer is, well, killing someone, the camera seems to be shaky enough to where you can actually see what's happening, which I'm sure is what would actually might happen, rather than excessive shakiness and you can't see a thing. The bad side about having the video camera is that there was one part in the middle of the film where it was too dark to see anything. I was really hoping the killer would turn on the night vision, but I guess this camera didn't have one. But at the suspenseful parts, there'd be a lot of light to actually show what was going on. This also reminded me a lot of one of those documentaries that you see on TV, like Unsolved Mysteries or The FBI Files (or whatever the show's called if you know what I'm talking about), because it had the camera movements, the music, the animations, the re-enactments, everything. The only different thing was that they actually had tapes that showed murders, and pictures of the victims.

This movie was a disturbing piece of work. There were some moments where I covered my mouth in shock because of what I was watching, even if I knew it was fake.

There was one part where I almost shouted "What the fuck!?!?" and it was in the first 20 minutes of the film!

Other moments I felt sympathy for the characters because of the way this guy treated the victims, and the ending was saddening to see what had happened to one of the victims, and it left a sour feeling in my stomach after seeing it. This film even had one of the most disturbing deaths I've ever seen in any horror movie, and I'm sure it'll be a day or two before I can fully convince myself that it was fake. Buahaha.



So, all in all, I give this film 8 1/2 out of 10 stars. It was an extremely effective film that brought the most realism out of any shaky-cam film I've seen. It was the most disturbing piece of work I've seen, and I really think that this movie should've come out in theaters. Oh, and on that note, this movie also has an ending that was meant for it to come out in theaters. It wasn't a big payoff or anything that a big Hollywood production would have, but it was just something that one of the FBI agents had said that would make you look around the theater and have a bit of an uncomfortable feeling about the person sitting behind you.

If you're really looking for a thrill mixed with realism, I think this might work. I'm not sure it'll be your cup of tea, but I've been waiting for this movie, so that's why I really enjoyed it. I think it's stuff that seems real that really gets my heart going. It's the psychological effect, that, even though it's not real, this stuff actually happens. That's why I think it's scary.


(I don't know if I'm allowed to do this here on SS but...)If you would like to see this film (because I sure don't know when it's going to be open to the public), here are the links to it:

ZShare
1. http://www.zshare.net/video/53743106ed6ea3af/

2. http://www.zshare.net/video/53742116f49abc78/


Enjoy!
Sean

Thanks for the links. I have just watched it.

It was not as bad as I had feared, or hoped. I had read a few things about this movie last year, even something about someone trying to get it banned (always a good sign). In terms of gore there is much more in Saw and Hostel, but like Sean said it is the realism that gets you in this. There are a couple of moments that while not graphic in anyway at all are still kind of fucked up - but it is the idea of what may happen and nothing more.

It was a pretty good effort, as far as this new wave of "found tape" horror films go this is the best, I would say it is better than [REC] (and its remake) which itself I thought was decent.

One decision by the filmmakers I found strange was the use of incidental music over the "found tape" segments. It really took me out of the scene, such an odd thing to do. Surely no music would be a much better way of giving us the raw footage feel that this film is supposed to be about?

Apart from that not a bad effort at all, definitely worth a watch and not nearly as graphic as you might expect.

Quoted from Murphy Thanks for the links. I have just watched it. It was not as bad as I had feared, or hoped. I had read a few things about this movie last year, even something about someone trying to get it banned (always a good sign). In terms of gore there is much more in Saw and Hostel, but like Sean said it is the realism that gets you in this. There are a couple of moments that while not graphic in anyway at all are still kind of fucked up - but it is the idea of what may happen and nothing more. It was a pretty good effort, as far as this new wave of "found tape" horror films go this is the best, I would say it is better than [REC] (and its remake) which itself I thought was decent. One decision by the filmmakers I found strange was the use of incidental music over the "found tape" segments. It really took me out of the scene, such an odd thing to do. Surely no music would be a much better way of giving us the raw footage feel that this film is supposed to be about?

Really? I loved [REC] and Quarantine was okay...I was actually a bit skeptical when watching this since the people who wrote and directed this film also wrote and directed Quarantine. But [REC] was probably the scariest movie I've ever seen to this day.

I thought that was weird too, using the music over the tapes. It did take me away from the tapes a bit, but then again, I think it was also a bit necessary, considering I see this as more of a TV documentary of a serial killer. I especially liked the "boat horn" effect when Cheryl was tied up from head to toe, and when he was crawling towards the British woman.

And I agree: I wasn't hoping for a lot of gore because just the fact that it seemed so realistic was scary enough.


Sean


P.S> Just found out today. Watch after the credits. There's one more clip.