About to do a dumb

[theoreticalpixy]

So I'm going to watch The Poughkeepsie Tapes again. After more or less swearing not to after watching it the first time. It is pretty much nightmare fuel and I blame a romp yesterday on tvtropes peeking my interest again(Same romp also has made me want to reread House of Leaves). The only thing I can think of that has creeped me out more than this movie is Eraserhead. And Eraserhead scared me enough to make be have to sit up and watch other movies to get it out of my head (coming home from it to an empty apartment added to that though). Which is A LOT for me. I get over scary things quickly. I think I left the light on after watching The Poughkeepsie Tapes. So yeahhhh This movie creeps me out.

I think it may lose impact on a rewatch though since it is a balance of (intentional imo) over acting murder docu-drama and 'found footage' that is mostly black and hard to make out things atmosphere etc.. bla blah blah. also CREEPY MASKED KILLER WHO MOVES SLOWLY AND CREEPILY INTO FRAME FUCKINLAKFJDSLFWEOIDS.

also helpful: brightly lit studio and pretty pictures all around me. And I'll be painting a bit while watching.

ANYWAYS I'm going to be live blog it here for my sanity. I have no one to watch it with rn (to do: find another horror lover with strong stomach. these things are easier when you have someone to flail to.)

__

1:45 PRESSING PLAY NOW

CREDITS! With eerie but nifty female vocalizations in the music.

1:47: first interviews!

1:48 miss police officer who looks a little like Sarah Silverman and overacts liek whoa. I am fond of her ridiculousness and am pretty sure she was cast to be that way.

1:50 first tape bits. they start out slowly. just strange stuff not an killings or glimpses of the killer. Also the tape quality is awfulllllll which just adds to the creepy

1:54: first kill, off camera. But it's a kid :[

so far? not creeped. But I know it gets way worse....

1:56: 'This is nothing, he doesn't even know what he's doing yet'
-so part of the concept is that the tapes recovered cover his early days and whatnot and the evolution/how he figures things out is part of the creep factor.

1:58: second victims, couple in a car he hitch-hikes with and then knocks out the driver.

2:01: getting creepier with the tapes now

2:07 killer cutting up bodies. not as bad as I thought. Though I don't remember that being that bothersome the frist time either.

2:08 Introduction of Cheryl a victim who he keeps alive for years instead of just killing. Cheryl and her arc are pretty much the creepiest part of the film.

2:13 breaking into Cheryl's house. She's taking a shower and for a moment you think there's going to be a psycho throwback but then he hids in the closet and waits instead. creepy

2:16 UGH I THINK THIS IS FIRST BASEMENT -oh nevermind he's about to grab cheryl(and kill her boyfriend if I recall)
The basement bits are the creepiest and hence the capslock...

2:18 BOYFRIEND DEAD. first glimpse of mask in the window reflection. I shivered ngl
and Cheryl's out too now. o hai scary killer breathing.

2:19 ...basement. first proper view of mask. :[ Cheryl tied up and being harassed

2:23 more basement still on the mild side (mild being the killer getting her to say 'I'm happy you killed my parents' by holding her head under water....)

2:27 Even more basement. I totally forgot about all the early stuff because of the later stuff being so creepy.... ughhhh now Cheryl has her mask too.
note that there is interviews/commentary/etc inbetween each of these 'tape' clips

2:32 Killer forces Cheryl to kill a victim (she's pretty much pure stockholm syndrome at this point)

2:35 One of the reasons I like the writers of this: this scene which is pretty much a big fakeout. Girlscouts come to the door, uses them in, gives them soda (and we know he's ok with killing children because of the first murder)
but he lets them go safely because they indicate their parents know where they are. subtle, creepy, effective.

2:44 So, again with the creepy and the twisting turning sidetracking, there's a police officer arrested, found guilty and executed for some of the murders.

It's a set up. The killer planted dna evidence to frame him. after he's dead the killer gives the cops evidence for another body. that doesn't match the timeframe of the murders the cop was executed for. but still has the dna evidence... *do do do dooooo*

2:53 abduction of british woman one of the best parts as far as atmosphere and acting

2:53

FUCK FUCK FUCK THIS IS THE CREEPY PART I DON'T LIKE THIS PART

okay, it was slightly better because I know what's coming, but his movements crawling towards her are still totes disconcerting. also: oh hai adrenaline rush. Wow, I felt that one.

2: 59 they find the house, it's completely wiped of prints/etc but they boxes of the tapes....and Cheryl. In a Box, half dead but still alive after 8 years of abuse and torture.

3:02 Interview with Chreyl. So good. So creepy, major, major props to this actress.

3:08 Done! I feel much better than I was expecting. Still unnerving but less 'Ahhhh' this time around.

Comments

[emmypenny.livejournal.com]

Haha, I had to watch Eraserhead when I still took film classes. LOVE IT SO FUCKING MUCH. The cow fetus baby? ADORE IT.

I have a strong stomach, but I LOOOOOOOOOVE horror movies. It's just hard for me to find people who are willing to watch any with me more than once because usually after the first time they swear never to do it again. I cry, I scream, I claw my way up my friends' arms. One time I had to sleep with my mom because I got so scared. But I do like them. It's just...not very apparent.

[theoreticalpixy.livejournal.com]

I WAS DOWN WITH IT UNTIL THE FINAL NIGHTMARE BITS WITH THE FREAKY BABY GROWING AND BEING FREAKY. I also watched it at midnight and went home alone. ughhhh.

I'm very zen with watching horror movies. I jump a bit but I don't make noise or anything and have a tendency to just sort of tremble a little. I can sit through some really terrible movies without being bothered too much. Incidentally I love them because they freak me out. Adreneline junkie: yes.

[emmypenny.livejournal.com]

THAT WAS A FUCKED UP BABY I THINK THAT MOVIE ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTED TO MY DESIRE TO NEVER REPRODUCE. Ah, see. I watched in a class with my teacher pausing it every few moments to tell us how things were done/explain technique.

I get VERY SCARED. I don't get grossed out, throw all of the blood and gore you can at me, but I do get scared. VERY SCARED. But I generally cackle at excessive amounts of guts.

[theoreticalpixy.livejournal.com]

SO FUCKED UP. That would make it easier. It was movie club night at school and we watched it in the big ( and half empty) auditorium. and then I went home at midnight and my roommate was out and it was all quiet in my apartment. NOT HELPFUL.

ahaha, I totally cackle at over the top gore too. Gore is just 'eh, a little gross' where as like creepy dolls, ghosts, creepy children are way more likely to make me go "Eeeeeeee" and hide.