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The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Play trailer Poster for The Poughkeepsie Tapes R 2007 1h 26m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 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.

Critics Reviews

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James Berardinelli ReelViews 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. Rated: 1.5/4 Jul 12, 2024 Full Review Tony Black Cultural Conversation A horrific gem. One of the great found footage pictures and indeed the faux documentary genre. Rated: 4/5 Feb 16, 2021 Full Review Gabriel Ricard Cultured Vultures The Poughkeepsie Tapes isn't a classic, but it's an engaging horror mockumentary nonetheless. Rated: 6/10 Oct 23, 2019 Full Review David Keyes Cinemaphile.org The movie thinks too diminutively of human intelligence, even by horror film standards. Rated: 2/4 Oct 13, 2014 Full Review Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com 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. Rated: D+ Aug 7, 2014 Full Review Jason Morgan Filmcritic.com it's the killer's bizarre motivations that truly terrify Rated: 4/5 May 12, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jack K. I thought this was going to be an amazing movie because it was a found footage but boy was I wrong. I found it hard to follow along, the VHS filter thing just bugged me because of the constant change from green and black and staticky, and the ending was predictable and boring. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Gavin M. Best found footage Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Lavish C I can't imagine that it would ever be possible to make a most immensely boring and not even remotely scary or disturbing or thrilling horror even if one would try really really really hard to miserably fail at all levels. In this sense, this is an astonishing unprecedented accomplishment. All writers and producers involved in this mess should seriously consider a new profession. ASAP. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/27/25 Full Review Oaklee D Really ended up enjoying this film, loved the documentary/found footage style it went with, if you're a horror fan give this a watch at least once. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/04/25 Full Review sarah k Don't waste your time on this movie. It fails on every level... acting, direction, writing, cinematography, editing, production.. just awful. It was like watching a high school kid's video project. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/14/25 Full Review Samiyah T my favorite movie ever and really disturbing had me scared because I thought that to this day the killer wasn't found ... but I realized it wasn't really a documentary Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/13/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Poughkeepsie Tapes

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Movie Info

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