Missing Reel? Try Missing Film

Could the best form of viral be no viral at all? That could be the reason why a film such as The Poughkeepsie Tapes is getting known. The film was originally shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007 and set for a release date of February of 2008. But it disappeared. Everything about this movie disappeared. Two known websites for the film (p-tapes.com and poughkeepsietapes.com) seemed to have up and vanished. The movies Myspace profile has been “cancelled by the user”.

The finished film, written and directed by John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine), exists, and people have seen it. You can see by the posts on such sites as Shocktilyoudrop and Bloodydisgusting that the film has received positive comments. Even comments on how disturbing the movie is.


Check out the trailer for yourself:

Is this why it’s gone? It’s too much for viewers? View the trailer above and you can definitely tell it can mess with your head. The movie is about a serial killer who video tapes his murders. They say it’s based on a real killer, Kendall Francois, who went on a murdering spree of women and prostitutes in Poughkeepsie, NY. The real story however does not involve any recorded tapes.


Now the police have to sit through all 2,400 hours of footage to look for clues. The tapes start to have emotional effects on those that view it. Maybe it does the same for us? Why is this film being sat on for so long? Maybe the Francois family stepped in. As it stands, the info that I have seen is a new release date of “TBA 2009”.


You have to admit, for a movie that doesn’t seem to exist, people want to see it. So there you have it. The newest form of viral is a magic trick. Make everything disappear and you will create some wanted buzz for your film.


So, is it a conspiracy? Or did this film just have distribution problems? Let us know what you think or if you have in fact seen the movie!