The Poughkeepsie Tapes (Movie Review)

In The Poughkeepsie Tapes a tabloid journalism show has unearthed hundreds of recordings made by a sadistic madman. The various parties involved, including police investigators, family members, and victims, recount details surrounding the investigation of the crimes.

The worst part of most found footage films: that first half hour or so, in which the filmmakers go out of their way to convince viewers that it makes total sense for our protagonists to be constantly filming, usually accompanied by those protagonists doing nothing but making bad jokes with each other, probably on a road trip to somewhere spooky, right?(well, that's "the worst part" assuming motion sickness doesn't just make you puke, I guess) The Poughkeepsie Tapes deftly sidesteps that whole cumbersome problem with its Hard Copy style presentation. The audience is being shown this footage because it's tabloid journalism. The psychopath took all the video in the first place because he's a psychopath. This leaves the film stripped of the usual extranious silliness present in found footage. There's no time spent coming to the realization that, "Man, these guys are all douchebags." Instead, The Poughkeepsie Tapes spends its entire runtime just trying to be as creepy as can be, and it's successful for the bulk of the film. There are some standout moments that truly make use of the medium. The film is split between the killer's (although whether he's actually a killer is up for debate, much in the same way that Jigsaw doesn't directly kill anyone in the early Saw films) footage and interview segments, and, for most of the film, the interview segments feel like our safe zone away from the creepy found footage. One of the film's biggest highlights is a moment when this feeling of safety is infringed upon by a very simple gag. Let's just say that it'll leave you stumped (cue the groans from anyone that's already seen the movie).

The movie is far from perfect. There are definitely a few segments that feel a bit too much like a high schooler's attempt at making a scary movie. There is also some questionable acting at times that does take away from the realism of what the film is attempting to accomplish. Over 15 years after Blare Witch is there anyone left that is still convincing themselves that found footage movies are potentially real though? Nevertheless, these moments do detract from the tone of the film.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is definitely one of those horror films that's probably best viewed with a group of friends, so that the rough edges get rounded over a bit and the creepy parts are allowed do their thing. The release of this movie is incredibly convoluted, which is a shame because it definitely does a lot right that other filmmakers attempting found footage should learn from.