The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Title: The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Director: Jack Erick Dowdle
Released: 2007
Starring: Stacy Chbosky, Ben Messmer, Samantha Robson, Ivar Brogger, Lou George, Amy Lyndon, Michael Lawson, Ron Harper, Kim Kenny

Plot: When the police raid a house they believe to belong to the serial killer Edward Carver, they instead find over 800 videotapes documenting his murder. The films Psudo-documentary presents the contents of the tapes as his history and evolution as a serial killer evolves over the years.

Review: While I’d known about the film for quite awhile thanks to it’s reputation for having shocking content something only further fuelled by the film being premiered in 2007and promtly shelved by MGM, later showing up on demand in 2014 before finally getting a physical release in 2018 after years of being passed around the internet in it’s rough cut form. Of course with this legacy and being the horror coward I am when it comes to extreme gore and violence it had meant that I’d put it on one side and not thought about it until it started turning up in numerous WhatCulture Horror lists that I thought it was time to finally see what the fuss was all about.

Certainly what really grabbed me about this film was the shot of the killers home movie collection were he details his crime and whose contents we will get to see parts of over the course of the film and there is something about the shot of 1000’s of VHS tapes lined up that really caught my curiosity. Of course right from the start it’s clear that Director Jack Erick Dowdle is either a fan or certainly has done his research into the structure of true crime documentaries as this film could certainly be seen as being one of those production were it not for the numerous graphic scenes shown throughout the film. What Dowdle does right though is to present this case through the lens of (fake) experts who were involved in one way or another with the case who break up the footage from this collection of tapes to interject their thoughts on what was happening at that time.

Because the majority of the footage is shot by the killer Ed Carver we certainly get a clear insight into his deranged psyche even before he’s committed his first murder as one of the first things we are shown is a girl in lingerie being forced to blow up and bounce on a balloon something we are told by the tech appears numerous times on the early tapes before we move onto his first murder. Again while he might be filming everything we never get to see his face as it’s either covered by a plague doctor style mask / bio hazard outfit or just out of frame. We do however get to hear his voice which is kind of unnerving because of Ben Messmer either sounds like or making his voice sound like Will Forte putting the idea in my head of Forte carrying out these hideous acts which is a whole other kind of horror.

As the case is unravelled we see Carver evolve as a killer all while various experts claim that he can never be tracked because somehow he is able to change his motivations and perfectly disguise his work as being carried out by different killers something which seemed overly convenient and one of the few leaps of fantasy that the director allows for himself especially as Carver goes from playing the broken down hitchhiker to playing to a fake cop over the years he’s shown active in the film.

Not to be limited to just a series of horrible murders / acts most of which are off screen or implied and possibly to either top what had been done previously with the superb Man Bites Dog the film really shows it’s nasty side with the kidnapping of Cheryl Dempsey (Chbosky) who we see being subjected to prolonged scenes of torture and psychological abuse before turning her into his living doll named slave. Needless to say violence against women is always difficult to watch and certainly this tapped into that same unease viewing that like Martyrs had me questioning what I was doing with my time. For sure these plotline does have a pay off in the end when we are faced with the rescued Cheryl unable to readjust to life outside of Carvers basement, something that so many directors aiming to shock would never bother to include but it’s these scenes which really left me with no desire to rewatch the film once the credits rolled.

While this might not be the first time we’ve seen a serial killer presented in this style with the aforementioned Man Bites Dog still being the best example alongside the much more humorous Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. However the construction of the film really is what holds your attention alongside the feeling that Dowdle has put some actual though into the film than being another director in that ever expanding list of film makers confusing shock factor and grotesque imagery for horror as we saw with the abysmal The Last Horror Movie

Passengers

Title: Passengers
Director: Morten Tyldum
Released: 2016
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia

Plot: Onboard the Avalon the 5,000 colonists and 258 crew are embarking on a 120 year long journey to the colony planet Homestead II. However while they sleep in hibernation pods one passenger, the engineer Jim (Pratt) has just woken up 90 years too soon. Now facing a life alone and no way to renter his pod he soon starts to consider waking up another passenger when he discovers Aurora (Lawrence).

Review: Released to the buzz of controversy regarding it’s plot most of which coming from people who’d only heard the plot and not actually seen the film itself while some who did were keen to brand it a “Stockholm syndrome fantasy” which ultimately feels a little harsh seeing how the main drive behind intergalatic castaway Jim’s decision to wake up Aurora is based more on his loneliness of having spent a year already on his own with only the android bartender (a pitch perfect Michael Sheen) for company and as such I couldn’t help but wonder had it not been the sleeping beauty Aurora he woke up and instead another guy would we have seen such fallout from the premise? Equally faced with years of isolation wouldn’t you want to have a friend to talk with or play cards or is it a more noble fate to sucumb to the maddness of isolation??

Pratt is unquestionably every bit the likeable everyman we’ve come to expect and seeing him dealing with his first year alone, force to survive on the basic food and drink options available to him due to his discount passenger status is not without its share of amusing moment especially as he becomes increasingly disillusioned by his fate which soon sees him wandering the halls naked and unkempt. Once Aurora enters the picture though it becomes much more of a question of how long he can keep the truth from her, especially as they grow increasingly closer as time passes and she too comes to deal with her own impending fate all the while completely unaware of Jim’s part in predicament.

An unusual choice of film to follow up his Oscar nominated english language debut The Imitation Game but here Swedish Director Morten Tyldum really captures a futuristic style for the ship as it runs on autopilot self correcting any issues and enabling the crew and passengers to sleep through their long voyage uninterrupted as highlighted by the opening meteor storm which the ship passes through and which despite the pods being fail proof still results in Jim being prematurely awoken. Tyldum though really captures the futuristic feel of the ship with is smooth edges and almost sterile atmosphere thanks to the squad of drones constantly keeping things in check which sadly Jim didn’t try and turn into his own version Wilson from Castaway.

The onscreen chemistry between Pratt and Lawrence is pretty charming despite the questionable circumstances which bring them together which could almost be seen as a stab at social media stalking considering the amount of time that Jim spend listening to her Aurora’s interview files learning everything about her as he weighs up taking that final step in waking her up. From here though it’s largely a repeat of the same scenes we saw Jim playing through only now with his new friend or victim depending on how hung up on his actions you are.

While the film is happy to focus on the engaging relationship between Jim and Aurora it does however mean that the final quarter does feel like it was dropped into the film just because the wasn’t sure how to end it even if it does mean we get a brief performance from Lawrence Fishburne though how Andy Garcia got roped into that cameo at the end is still unclear.

While the plot might be problematic for some tastes, this is still an enjoyable movie certainly carried by it’s engaging leads making it a fun piece of sci-fi escapisim.