The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a 2007 American mockumentary horror film written and directed by John Erick Dowdle. The movie 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.

Plot
When police raid a house in Poughkeepsie, New York, they discover over 800 videotapes shot by serial killer Edward Carver,[a] 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 his whereabouts and the whereabouts of his victims.

The first tape records the murder of his first victim, an eight-year-old girl who 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 Cesarian 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.

Carver's next victim is teenager Cheryl Dempsey. He murders and mutilates her boyfriend Tim and imprisons Cheryl in his basement, abusing her sexually, physically and psychologically as his "slave". Cheryl's mother Victoria appeals to her kidnapper in a televised statement. He goes to see her, offering to help while filming her. Victoria realizes that he is her daughter's captor and stands shocked as he laughs and flees.

With his crimes gaining a rising level of attention, Carver changes his modus operandi and begins targeting sex workers while posing as a police officer; he is dubbed the "Water Street Butcher." The police investigating the murders are led to officer James Foley; because Foley has a history of visiting sex workers, is mentioned in eyewitness statements, has no alibi and has matching sperm samples, he is convicted and sentenced to death in 1996. Foley continues to plead his innocence and refuses to make any plea deals. He is executed by lethal injection on September 9, 2001. Days later, his former partner finds a map in his mailbox with the location of another body. The real killer had presumably taken Foley's sperm from a fertility clinic and framed him. Foley is exonerated of the murders on September 12; but because of the proximity to the September 11 attacks, this goes unrecognized by the public.

After another murder, the police reverse-engineer the killer's map search and Cheryl is discovered in his empty house. She is rescued but is irreversibly damaged from her ordeal, suffering from malnourishment and harming herself in secret. In an interview, she identifies with her captor and defends him, saying that he loved her. Two weeks later, she commits suicide. Her body is exhumed after its burial, with a tape left in her empty coffin. The investigators ponder where Carver is and assert that he will watch the documentary. A post-credits scene shows a restrained woman being filmed by Carver, who says she will be allowed to live for as long as she does not blink.

Cast

 * Stacy Chbosky as Cheryl Dempsey
 * Ben Messmer as Edward Carver
 * Ivar Brogger as Leonard Schway
 * Lou George as Felton Lewis
 * Michael Lawson as Simon Alray
 * Samantha Robson as Samantha Baker
 * Ron Harper as Mike Moakes