The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a fake documentary which uses found footage from a serial killer’s private collection to chronicle his crimes with interviews from law enforcement officials and those affected by his rampage. The movie’s killer shares few similarities with Kendall Francois, an infamous serial killer who lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, so don’t watch it expecting to get a fictional take on the notorious killer. I could find no complaints of whitewashing or exploitation in my cursory research of this film.
I loved the framing of The Poughkeepsie Tapes as an ongoing investigation and hearing the experts reflect on the case. The talking heads increased the tension. In contrast, actually watching the footage was a mixed bag, especially since none of the investigators discussed the existence or significance of the technical distortions, odd use of color and infrequent music layover in the killer’s video recording, but simply expressed astonishment that he could kill and torture his victims while simultaneously holding a camera. When I later read a synopsis of the film, I did not notice a lot of details because the image was so warped. Because the footage is so uneven, losing interest is unavoidable.
I understand that The Poughkeepsie Tapes is scarier if the killer is still at large, but the story did not make that believable. He had a landlord. A victim’s mother saw him and lived. People have been caught with less. Also after hearing tons of survivors’ accounts after long-term captivity, even though the performance was convincing, the story’s resolution was contrary to reality, and another aspect of the story that undercut the film’s goal to feel authentic. If I lived in a world without Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michele Knight, maybe I could buy it, but I don’t so I can’t.
While the film is initially absorbing, at 86 minutes, as the killer’s modus operandi shifts, the movie feels more tedious and seems like an excuse for filmmakers to explore different horror and true crime tropes in one fell swoop than a credible, cohesive story about an ambitious, sadistic killer. The Poughkeepsie Tapes’ central flaw is its inability to create a whole person, demented or not, whose psychological profile resembled reality. If you don’t think that aspect of the movie would bother you, then you may enjoy the shifting found footage homage to various horror genres, particularly the John Carpenter’s Halloween like sequence when he places the camera in a location while he hides in the closet. The Silence of the Lambs shout out with Ted Bundy as the resident Hannibal Lecter really worked for me. The quirky threads that ultimately led nowhere made me roll my eyes: balloon fetish, use of Medieval masks as a way to lose control, the weird J Horror entrance. Sure it is creepy, but how does it all add up. It never feels like it does.
While most viewers are enthusiastic about The Poughkeepsie Tapes, I felt like the filmmakers had a list of disturbing moments that they wanted to create and just went through it without really exploring the psychology of their characters to create a grounded portrait of a sensational crime. It is possible to do that-watch Hannibal, the TV series. I was ultimately disappointed that a film started so strong and clinched the atmosphere and tone with the investigation, but failed to capture my attention because the actual scope of the crimes were so over the top. If you are a fan of fake documentaries or the found footage genre, you may enjoy it, but not if you are expecting the film to deliver on all the promotional hype.