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The Poughkeepsie Tapes

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Horror · Mystery · Crime · 2007

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.

Movie details

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

“The terror is real.”

2007 Horror · Mystery · Crime 1h 21m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Poughkeepsie Tapes?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Halloween

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Rejected by her lover, the only man left in Cheryl's life is the orphaned nephew she has raised as her own son. She'll stop at nothing to keep Billy with her. When her plans misfire, she is swept up into an insane frenzy that means death to anyone who comes between her and her obsession. But the investigating detective is convinced that Billy is the real killer - and determined to prove it. Madness and fanaticism work together to drag all concerned into a terrifying vortex of blood-letting that adds a nightmarish twist to the classic Oedipus story.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Erick Dowdle

Written by

Drew Dowdle · John Erick Dowdle

Stacy Chbosky

Stacy Chbosky

Cheryl Dempsey

Ben Messmer

Ben Messmer

Edward 'Ed' Carver

Lou George

Lou George

Felton Lewis

Ivar Brogger

Ivar Brogger

Leonard Schway

M

Michael Lawson

Simon Alray

Amy Lyndon

Amy Lyndon

Alice Endrisart

Ron Harper

Ron Harper

Mike Moakes

Court is in session

Put The Poughkeepsie Tapes on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Cool Ironist

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.