The Most Shocking Found Footage Horror Movie Ever Is Now on Prime Video

On this day in horror history, The Poughkeepsie Tapes premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. The found footage chiller is directed by John Erick Dowdle and considered by some fans to be one of most shocking and disturbing horror films of its era.

Structured as a mockumentary, the movie follows law enforcement officials in Poughkeepsie, New York, after they discover of a large collection of videotapes in a local residence said to document the crimes of a serial killer named Edward Carver over an extended period of time. The film combines staged interview segments with “recovered” footage to create a procedural format that reads as surprisingly real.

The cast of The Poughkeepsie Tapes includes Stacy Chbosky, Ben Messmer, Samantha Robson, and Ivar Brogger and was shot on digital video to match the aesthetic of home-recorded material.

Following its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, the film was acquired for distribution by MGM. While the studio promoted the movie and had a theatrical release planned for 2008, it was ultimately pulled from the release schedule. No official public explanation was widely confirmed at the time for the decision, and it remained unreleased for nearly a decade.

During that period, The Poughkeepsie Tapes developed something of a reputation within the horror community due to its shelving and reports of an especially nightmarish scene involving a home surgery. It circulated among fans by way of bootlegs and online forum discussion, which helped build a sense of infamy.

Unfortunately the film did not receive an official unveiling until 2017, when Scream Factory issued a physical release. This marked the first time the film was broadly accessible through a major distributor. It later became available through streaming platforms, further increasing its infamy.