Torture Porn


While a clever pseudodocumentary film, "The Poughkeepsie Tapes" violates aesthetic distance by crossing too far into the real - much like the original "Last House on the Left." Films of this ilk are meant to frighten and shock, but oh my.

The film revels in the portrayal of extreme torture. Add to that the kidnap and murder of female children. The result is more an indictment of the filmmaker's misogyny with no resolution to break the tension.

Good films challenge, inspire, entertain, frighten. The occasional film, for various reasons, makes our butts squirm in the seat. "The Poughkeepsie Tapes" has nothing in these areas to recommend it, for the squirm is a gratuitous assault on our senses. The killings, torture and mayhem just are. While that might mirror an aspect of society, other portrayals of serial killers are broader. This film does not subscribe.

As corollary, a film might have graphic sex, say "Last Tango in Paris" or "Damage." The sex is a character. Conversely, there are XXX porn movies which offer sex without emotional attachment. "The Poughkeepsie Tapes" is akin to the latter.

I do applaud the filmmakers for getting a film made and distributed.

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I think the resolution was in the comment that the killer would be attending the show as many times as possible, and would be in the audience. It was really clever- it wasn't the traditional 'it was THIS GUY ALL ALONG,' but it still provided a resolution, a kind of answer. They told us who the killer was, he was the guy right next to you.

I think Poughkeepsie Tapes is a perfectly reasonable film for the gore-horror genre. I liked that it really explored and in some ways challenged 'true crime' as a genre and the accuracy of profiling and other criminologists tools usually presented as foolproof (which they aren't, by any means.)

Still, thank God we don't all like the same thing, or there'd be a worldwide shortage of oatmeal :)

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Actually, I found that really cheesy.

"Maybe he lives next door to YOU! Muhahahaha" etc.

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You wanna live forever?

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your wrong

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Completely agree. This was a mysoginistic piece of crap.

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What was mysoginistic about it?
That word is thrown about so often by insecure women it means nothing the over-whelming majority of the time.

I bet you applaud all the misandry in mainstream tv and film?

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This was an obviously misogynistic movie. If you can't see it you don't know what the word means. I'm not a woman, I'm not insecure, but I know crap when I see it.

Here's a definition from Wikipedia, since you obviously need it:
"Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women."

You're own reaction to my use of the word does, however, show how insecure you are, as does your laughable and weepy mention of misandry. How many advertisements have you seen with groups of naked men? How about groups of naked women? How often is the main purpose of women in mainstream TV or film is to be an object that needs to be rescued or controlled by the man? How often was the only purpose of this film to give the makers excuses to show long scenes of women being dominated, humiliated, and broken?

I'll lay it out for you.

1) This movie has no story. The 'story' in this film is simply an excuse to link multiple scenes of women being tortured. The only male victims we really see are the husband who is killed instantly, and the idiotic subplot about the cop who is framed. A subplot, by the way, which is so badly thought out and written, and clinically shown that it only makes the misogyny more apparent.

2) We hardly ever see the killer, this is so we are not distracted because every shot of the tapes is designed to give the filmmakers the excuse to make us focus on the women.

3) The only woman we really get to know is the lady the killer captured and tortured and broke. Her only purpose is to show us how the killer controls her, dominates her, and subjugates her. She has no will of her own, she has no purpose but to show how powerful the male killer is.

4) Unlike, lets say, Silence of the Lambs, where the purpose of the story is to show us how Buffalo Bill's objectification of women is a tool that allows us to understand what a monster he is, the Poughkeepsie killer's treatment of women is to show us how masterful and dominating and controlling he is. Yes, sure, he's clearly insane, but the whole film is designed to show us what a brilliant, dominating spirit he is. Something they even imply only occurred once he made his decision to start victimizing women.

5) The film makes a great effort to lionize the killer. To impress us with his idiotically impossible brilliance. The hero of the movie is a man who does nothing but dominate, humiliate, break and torture women. When your protagonist is defined by only those things, the tale itself is misogynistic.

Each one of these examples, are perfect illustrations of misogyny. Had there been a decent story to make these linked scenes worthwhile, or a memorable well written killer, or even a reasonable and partially intelligent denouement, then it could be, perhaps, forgiven. Lacking that, there is no other way to describe this steaming pile than as a misogynistic piece of crap.

If you don't agree that's your opinion, but your opinion would be wrong.


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Well, I liked this film a lot. It's certainly one of the best genre films of the last few years, but I wouldn't try and defend it along the lines you've laid out. And let's hope that it doesn't actually "inspire" anyone. But it doesn't matter. This is a piece of extreme cinema and real cinema is art not entertainment. There is no moral obligation to the viewer.

This film takes you into a real part of our world which is normally completely concealed and whether you turn away or get off on it is up to you. I for one was riveted. To me any graphic killing took second place to killer's development as an artist. I was absolutely fascinated by descriptions of his crimes (genitals in the sock draw, the masks etc.) and general creativity. For me the tapes he leaves behind represent a series of sketches and finished works. And I believe that is what is intended.

I thought the cleverest part of the film was the balloon fetish; just plain strange. It probably relates to some childhood incident.

Anyway, as far as torture porn goes there are a lot worse out there in terms of graphic depiction and gratuitousness. Just look at popular films like The Collector and its sequel for instance or Saw, compared to those this is actually quite subtle.

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A bunch of fancy words and all, but a completely BS review. In fact, only two murders are shown in the entire movie. None of them very gory (or whatever you'd expect from that moronic 'torture porn' label).



I'm having trouble with a patient of mine; he's a teenage drug addict who's being molested. By me.

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Yeah. I have a problema with this kind of horror film, because it glamorizes violence (usually against women), it makes entertainment out of something that ACTUALLY happens in the real world. That's what makes it sick and sickening imo.

You might say that makes it worthwhile, but for that you have documentaries. This makes entertainment out of it.

Torture porn is a good way to describe it.

Do people think of the fact serial killers and people with such tendencies or fantasies probbaly masturbate to a movie like this?. It could actually promote or inspire such behaviour.

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Torture porn is accurate for this film. There is violence, pain, suffering just for the sake of violence, pain, suffering. The movie did not offer any insight into crime, violence, film, society, etc

After a certain point, the violence in this film lost it's effect because of the saturation. We see the killer do so much (and get away with it) that by the end you're just shrugging your shoulders at something that should be horrifying.

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