The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
Directed by John Erick Dowdle
Okay, so this found-footage/mockumentary film is really pretty terrible, which seems to be the case with most films that have a good bit of hype and cult following before they’re even released (or in the case of this film, illegally downloaded). The recipe here contains two ingredients: “documentary” footage (cutaways of crime scenes, evidence, interviews, etc.), and the “real” footage left by the serial killer. The former is awful. Just… awful. Truly terrible acting. Dialogue presumably penned by a teen boy. The works. The archive footage, however, is really something. Many of the vignettes are quite terrifying, and surprisingly well-acted.
It’s hard to understand how they ended up with two parts so disparate in quality, but if you’ve got a bit of spare time and feel like fast-forwarding through the bad bits, it’s worth checking out (if you can find it).