The Poughkeepsie Tapes2007
“The terror is real.”
Directed by John Erick Dowdle
The premise
When hundreds of videotapes showing torture, murder and dismemberment are found in an abandoned house, they reveal a serial killer's decade-long reign of terror and become the most disturbing collection of evidence homicide detectives have ever seen.
Horror Vault's take
Presented as a true-crime documentary, The Poughkeepsie Tapes plunges viewers into the recovered video archive of an unidentified serial killer whose methodical cruelty spanned years before anyone caught on. Intercut with interviews from investigators and survivors, the film uses raw, analog footage to simulate the killer's own perspective — turning the audience into reluctant witnesses. It is less interested in whodunit mystery than in the sustained, suffocating experience of evil given free rein. Few films in the found footage canon commit this fully to an atmosphere of pure, unrelenting dread.
Content: Graphic Depictions Of Torture, Violence Against Women, Depictions Of Child Endangerment, Simulated Snuff Footage, Psychological Abuse And Brainwashing, Disturbing And Prolonged Scenes Of Suffering
Cast
Explore related
Ratings & reviews
No reviews yet — be the first to pass judgment.
Sign in to rate this title and warn (or tempt) the next viewer.
More like this
Se7en
1995 · 127m
Freaks
1932 · 64m
Ghostwatch
1992 · 91m
Santa Sangre
1989 · 122m
Carrie
1976 · 98m
The Devils
1971 · 112m
American Psycho
2000 · 102m
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2007 · 116m