The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)

Director:

John Erick Dowdle

Writers:

Drew Dowdle (story)
John Erick Dowdle (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Terror is Real

Plot:

When hundreds of videotapes showing torture, murder and dismemberment are found in an abandoned house...

Plot Keywords:

Videotape

Cast

Stacy Chbosky	...	Cheryl Dempsey
Ben Messmer	...	Ed
Samantha Robson	...	Samantha
Ivar Brogger	...	Leonard Schway
Lou George	...	Felton Lewis
Amy Lyndon	...	Alice Endrisart
Michael Lawson	...	Simon Alray
Ron Harper	...	Mike Moakes
Kim Kenny	...	Pam Frears
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Iris Bahr	...	Psychiatrist
Scott Beehner	...	Jason Ribling
Adarsha Benjamin	...	Victim 2
Kelli Bielema	...	Jane Gerber
Linda Bisesti	...	Sandra Willets
Lisa Black	...	Victoria Dempsey
Marissa Blanchard	...	Girl Scout 1
Bill Bookston	...	James Foley
Oto Brezina	...	Dr. Farhad Mansourian
Jules Bruff	...	Blinker
Paul Buxton	...	Walter Kunkler
Todd Cahoon	...	Ted Bundy
Blaire Chandler	...	Cynthia Gorman
Larry Clarke	...	Edgar Cummings
Donna Cooper	...	Prostitute 2
Bruce Cronander	...	Harvey Scroggs
Meredith Cross	...	Jeanette Anderson
Henry Dittman	...	Frank Anderson
Bobby Eskandari	...	Dr. Arnold Montufar (as Bobby Alexander)
Dennis Garber	...	Joseph Danvers
Chip Godwin	...	Hank Foley
Jennifer Griswold	...	Jennifer Griswold
David Haack	...	Tim Surrey
Tom Hauser	...	News Anchor
Keisuke Hoashi	...	Dai Loung
Sean Huze	...	Hector Gomez (scenes deleted)
Michael Hyland	...	Profiling Student 1 (as Mike Hyland)
David James	...	Tim Surrey
Ceciley Jenkins	...	Traci Looner
Zale Kessler	...	Frederick Miller
Morgan Lariah	...	Profiling Student 2
Fiona Lincke	...	Reporter
Sierra Marcoux	...	Jennifer Gorman
James Mathers	...	Bernard Golinko
Leah McLean	...	News Anchor
Tracy Miller	...	TV Reporter
Naveen	...	Dr. Arjay Vintopeej
Philip Newby	...	Irwin Griffard (as Phil Newby)
Bruno Oliver	...	Joel Gorman
Steven M. Porter	...	Albert Cromley
Adrian Roberts	...	Warden
Brad Satin	...	Himself
Brooke Sikkema	...	Girl Scout 2
Heather Snell	...	Jennifer Henshaw
Erin Stutland	...	Victim 1
Beth Tapper	...	Karen Tyler
David Wilcox	...	Jacob Polinski
Mark McClain Wilson	...	Mark Rongitch

MPAA:

Rated R for sadistic violence and torture, including terror and graphic descriptions.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Brothers Dowdle Productions

Not just awful, awful with a heaping side of misogyny!

I just saw this movie at a film festival and was simply overwhelmed with the bad. The Poughkeepsie Tapes was introduced to us as a very disturbing documentary, however it was clear from the credits (or very soon thereafter) that it simply wasn't a documentary. From there it was hard to tell where the film makers really wanted to go. Did they want it to be a comedy? There was certainly some awkward humor that brought a laugh or two at the ridiculous nature of some of the things being said or done. Or the fact that a commedia dell'arte mask that is scary in and of itself is rather less so when paired with a cape, gloves, and neck-ruff. But then there'd be the dead earnest video tape evidence, killing any humor whatsoever. Then there was the flubs in the film making that constantly took one out of the movie. For instance, the killer supposedly filmed himself over years. But the 'taped' footage is degraded fr far beyond what it would really be, and you'd think a killer so meticulous would care about the quality of image and would maybe over the course of how many years... buy a new camera? Also, at one point which is supposed to occur early on, you can see from a shadow that the camera he's holding (in 1998?) is not a VHS camera, but a hand held. The only thing that was really clear to me about this movie is that one or all of the makers really, really hates women.