🎥 The Poughkeepsie Tapes – The Cursed Mockumentary That Gets Under Your Skin

Idk if it will work, but here one of my blogs

🎥 The Poughkeepsie Tapes – The Cursed Mockumentary That Gets Under Your Skin

Found footage and real sadism. The Poughkeepsie Tapes is one of those films you don’t forget. Not because it scares you with jumpscares or monsters, but because it makes you feel dirty, complicit, powerless. It’s the kind of horror that hurts. And that’s exactly why, here on Gore & More, I love talking about it.

📼 The Context: A Film That Seemed to Vanish
Written and directed by John Erick Dowdle, The Poughkeepsie Tapes was supposed to be released in 2008… but was pulled at the last minute without explanation.
For years, it only circulated in pirated copies. That’s how it became an underground myth, fueling rumors, urban legends, and fears about its authenticity.

“It’s too disturbing for theaters.”
“They censored it out of fear of public reaction.”

Spoiler: that’s not true. But I get why people thought it was.

🧠 The Structure: Mockumentary + Found Footage
The film is structured as a fake documentary about a serial killer active for years in Poughkeepsie, New York.
During a raid on his house, the FBI discovers hundreds of VHS tapes—each one showing a murder, a torture, a rape.

It’s hell on tape.

The film alternates between interviews with police officers, psychiatrists, journalists, and raw excerpts from the tapes—edited without music, without filters.

👤 The Killer: Edward Carver, the Phantom Who Films
Edward isn’t a Jason or a Freddy. He’s not even Art the Clown.
He’s human—terrifyingly human. No makeup, no costume. Just a man with a camera, an empty stare, and a sick logic.

His most disturbing “work” is the abduction and brainwashing of Cheryl Dempsey, a young woman he turns into a slave until she’s utterly broken.

🩸 Gore & Tension: Pure Realism, No Gimmicks
This isn’t a splatter film in the traditional sense. There’s blood, but it doesn’t explode—it seeps, it lingers.
What hits hardest is the tone: disturbing, slow, cold.
Every scene from the “tapes” feels truly found—no script, no acting.

Many viewers swore it was a real documentary. And that might be its greatest strength.

🎯 Why It’s Perfect for Gore & More

• Psychologically devastating

• Sick, oppressive atmosphere

• Grimy ‘90s VHS aesthetic

• No morals, no redemption. Just horror.

👎 Not Recommended For:

• Those looking for jumpscares and easy thrills

• Anyone sensitive to themes of torture and slavery

• Fans of horror with a “justice served” ending

👍 Recommended For:

• True crime lovers and realistic found footage fans

• Anyone who wants to feel horror, not just watch it

💬 Trivia

• It was officially released in 2017, ten years after it was made.

• The killer is inspired by real serial murderers, including Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy.

🔥 Conclusion
The Poughkeepsie Tapes is an experience.
Not a film to watch with friends and popcorn.
But a disturbing piece of cinema that looks inside you… and finds your rawest fears

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they are in italian but there is a tool to translate them in every language, ik it is not pratical but i am still working on a full english one, translating all of the articles

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