The Poughkeepsie Tapes

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a 2007 American pseudo-documentary horror film written, directed, edited, and co-developed by John Erick Dowdle. It is about the murders of a serial killer in Poughkeepsie, New York, told through interviews and footage from a cache of the killer's snuff films. The film premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, but had a troubled release history; it was originally slated for theatrical release by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in February 2008, but was removed from the release schedule. The film had a brief video-on-demand release in 2014, but remained unavailable on home media. In October 2017, the film was released and remastered on DVD and Blu-ray by Scream Factory, via the newly-revived Orion Pictures. Plot When police raid a house in Poughkeepsie, New York, they discover over 800 videotapes shot by serial killer Edward Carver, which present a visual record of his murders, filmed in full from the point of abduction to the postmortem mutilation of the victim. Despite the volume of evidence, Carver is careful not to be shown on film unless fully disguised, leading to police and law enforcement beginning an investigation into both his whereabouts and the whereabouts of his victims. The first tape records the murder of his first victim, an eight-year-old girl whom he abducts, rapes, and murders. After the success of his first crime, Carver becomes more meticulous. He convinces a couple, the Andersons, to give him a ride, before clubbing the man and subduing the woman with chloroform. He then performs a Caesarian section on the woman, placing the severed head of her husband inside her womb before sewing her up, waking her, and filming her reaction. Carver shows himself in the CCTV footage of another gas station, using sign language to reveal the location of the bodies.