The Poughkeepsie Tapes Blu-ray vs. the "rough cut" version

[Oskar_Falk]

Okay, so a lot of people have probably heard about the somewhat underground found footage/mockumentary horror film The Poughkeepsie Tapes and how it got shelved from release by MGM after it's brief theatrical premier back in 2007. Well, after 10 years it's no finally gotten it's first official release on a Blu-ray/DVD combo from Shout Factory. As a huge fan of this film I was absolutely thrilled but like everyone else I had only seen this film by the use of file sharing sites and low quality bootleg rips of what was presumable an early screening copy.

In any case... to my great surprise it turns out that the version released by Shout Factory (the only official release there is) is actually quite different from the bootleg version everyone has grown accustomed to.

I've tried to compile a list of all the differences Ive found between the two versions (so far it's over 60 editorial changes) but quite frankly I havnt heard any one else talking about this - despite the fact that a lot of horror fanatics are really excited about the film finally coming to Blu-ray. Im not sure if this comparison is something that can be included in the rewind database but I think it's quite curious that it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere at this point (even imdb doesnt mention any alternate cuts but then again the blu-ray just came out so maybe no one else has noticed yet).

I would love to hear if anyone else knows more about this or if you have noticed something I've missed in my comparison.

You can check this url to see all the differences:
http://www.discjunkie.se/thepoughkeepsietapes/


UPDATE 2018-01-07 :

I was able to get in touch with director John Erick Dowdle and ask him about the changes and he actually explained it to me. Heres what he said:

"The cut we screened at Tribeca in 2007 is the same as the Blu-ray cut. The bootleg was our film festival submission rough cut which was never meant for public viewing. No changes have been made since 2007 when it was sold to MGM. It always pained me that what people saw of the The Poughkeepsie Tapes wasnt the film as we intended it. The finished version (as seen on the Blu-ray) is what we first premiered and the film as intended."

[Samuel_Scott]

Hi Oskar,

Just had a very quick glance and this certainly looks worthy of linking to in the comparison. Great work, and very in-depth! I'll be sure to add it in later on.

[Brent_Reid]

That's some great work there, Oskar - must've took ages! Have you any similar comparisons? Really dig your blog; are you a fan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, perchance?

Why not contact either of the writer/producer/director brothers directly and ask them about reasons for the differences and home video delay? They seem very friendly and approachable and may even be up for a full interview - which you could publish here! They're both on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jedowdle / https://twitter.com/DrewDowdle. Agency details: http://www.fanmail.biz/127027.html.
There's also an official Facebook page for the film: https://www.facebook.com/The-Poughkeepsie-Tapes-174026270748/.

Love their As Above, So Below and intend to catch up with the rest of their output asap!

[Oskar_Falk]

Hi Oskar,

Just had a very quick glance and this certainly looks worthy of linking to in the comparison. Great work, and very in-depth! I'll be sure to add it in later on.

Thank you very much. Would love it if the page could be linked from dvdcompare as I always considered it as the number one source for these kind of things

[Oskar_Falk]

That's some great work there, Oskar - must've took ages! Have you any similar comparisons? Really dig your blog; are you a fan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, perchance?

Why not contact either of the writer/producer/director brothers directly and ask them about reasons for the differences and home video delay? They seem very friendly and approachable and may even be up for a full interview - which you could publish here! They're both on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jedowdle / https://twitter.com/DrewDowdle. Agency details: http://www.fanmail.biz/127027.html.
There's also an official Facebook page for the film: https://www.facebook.com/The-Poughkeepsie-Tapes-174026270748/.

Love their As Above, So Below and intend to catch up with the rest of their output asap!

LOL, Thanks

TCM is definetly my main passion when it comes ro collecting. I have around 270 unique versions of it - ranging from 8mm film to blu-ray. Here are some links on the topic:

My TCM instagram (I try to post every release): http://www.instagram.com/TCMDb

My most recent TCM overview on youtube: https://youtu.be/-qju69N6h7s

And no, I havnt made any other comparisons. I basically just made this one because I could find anything reported on it and I really like the film.

Ive also been in touch with the director over the years but havnt heard from him in a while - might be getting tires of my questions

[Brent_Reid]

270? Bloody. Hell. Makes me feel much better about the mere handful of times I've bought some of my faves, like The Most Dangerous Game, the original King Kong, T1 and 2 or, more frequently, Charlie Chaplin's films...

Anyhoo, I've a bone to pick with you, as you doubtless have even more in-depth knowledge about TCM and its numerous permutations than The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Why, when I finally came to buy it for the first time a year or so ago [I know... ], did I have to do so much bloody detective work, hmm? Part of the reason I'd put off getting it for so long was because I knew there were a squillion different releases, transfers and extras, and wanted to be sure of getting the single best version - or two.
Even this site was only of limited help and I found incomplete or inaccurate info elsewhere, so most of what I collated ended up in the footnotes of both comparisons and makes up the bulk of this Wikipedia section. Seems to me like you should have taken care of it a long time ago! By the way, I ended up with the latest UK Second Sight BD and am very happy with it.

How about adding specs for some of the more notable omissions here, like the Spanish releases? Do the French and Scandinavian 4K restoration BDs have the same faulty A/V as the US and Oz discs?

Ta for sharing your collection vid, Oskar; some notes:

Firstly, very impressive whiskers, sir!
As you kinda said in passing, the large clamshell VHS cases were made for rental stores, where they were intended to stand out more on shelves. Of course, the irony was they just ended up with stores full of outsized cases, where none stood out at all!
Please tell us more about TCM pornography!
It's apparent that a large chunk of your collection consists of bootlegs; in addition to being one of the most reissued films on home video, could TCM be one of the most bootlegged too?
Has Tobe Hooper or any of the cast or crew seen your vid or been made aware of your collection's existence?
I hope you've left instructions as to your collection's future home, should anything happen to you!

Shine on, you geeky diamond...

[Oskar_Falk]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to mention that I was able to get in touch with director John Erick Dowdle and ask him about the changes and he actually explained it to me. Heres what he said:

"The cut we screened at Tribeca in 2007 is the same as the Blu-ray cut. The bootleg was our film festival submission rough cut which was never meant for public viewing. No changes have been made since 2007 when it was sold to MGM. It always pained me that what people saw of the The Poughkeepsie Tapes wasnt the film as we intended it. The finished version (as seen on the Blu-ray) is what we first premiered and the film as intended."

I also added this to the initial post.

[Oskar_Falk]

270? Bloody. Hell. Makes me feel much better about the mere handful of times I've bought some of my faves, like The Most Dangerous Game, the original King Kong, T1 and 2 or, more frequently, Charlie Chaplin's films...

Haha, Thanks man.

Well... in regards to my knowledge of TCM Im actually not the expert people believe me to be. It just so happened that the film impacted my life quite a bit and changed much of my taste in film and I ended up collecting it as a result. I was never one to care too much about image or audio quality to be honest and dont know the first thing about those kind of technicalities. Plus, seeing as I own every bloody release on the planet it doesnt really matter which ones are the best

Jokes aside, really great job from you side. I Honestly hadnt even noticed about the audio issues at the end. I got an old Swedish rental thats a rather unique cut in that it ommits part of the Dinner scene but keeps everything else but apart from that its a film which doesnt have too many alternate cuts as far as I know. I mean there were some early versions that were cut for violence but nowadays its completely uncut and has been for a long time.

Ive made a podcast episode where I talk in great lengths (an in poor audio) about how my TCM fascination began and everything surrounding it. You can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/QWovqVeO5K0

In regards to the TCM porn Ive actually written a small article on this but it hasnt been published yet. I forget If I talk about the porn in the podcast but I think its mentioned. In any case I just collect those for the fun of it. Neither "The Texas Dildo Masquerade" or "The Texas Vibrator Massacre" are very good from a porn standpoint (or rather not my kind of porn atleast) but any major fan of TCM should definetly give the first one a watch for its hilarious dialogue.

I posted some pics of the various porn-versions I got over here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUSYwo5BmTs/
(Hopefully Im not breaching any rules by linking this. Theyre not graphic enough to be taken down by instagram)

[Alister_Manson]

I saw a Texas Chainsaw porno a while back called "Texas Asshole Massacre".. it was absolutely hysterical, first part was some guy with PTSD crawling around hiding under a tree-branch, then screwing a girl while accusing her of being a "gook spy" (her retort: "whatever, I'm Welsh!", then second part was two girls, (one blonde and highly inexperienced, one quite the opposite), tag teaming some dude and also involved a dildo the size of an elongated dog-food roll, and it ended with the brunette going berserk and chasing the blonde around with the dildo mimicking Leatherface's chainsaw-swinging dance at the end of the original TCM

[Brent_Reid]

Hi Oskar, nice you got an answer, re Poughkeepsie's rough cut. It's interesting for fans/obsessives but I do feel sorry for John Erick Dowdle, having his unfinished sketch exposed to the world. I plan to pick up the BD when it's cheap enough, then after watching, I'll examine your comparison in more detail.

Of the main TCM releases, your go-to versions should be Second Sight's 2009 Seriously Ultimate Edition and 2014 40th Anniversary Edition BDS. They're the the best representations of the 2005 and 2014 restorations. Don't forget to fill in some of the blanks here with items from your collection, though!

I settled down to listen to your podcast with great interest, but... two bloomin' hours! I could listen to 1½ of TCM's audio commentaries in that time... Have you a condensed version? Come to think of it, have you thought of doing an audio commentary for it?

When you briefly mentioned porn in your vid, I didn't think you meant actual porn! Alister, the film you described sounds hilarious, though I couldn't imagine actually bothering to sit and watch the hole - sorry: whole - thing... Mods: I assume you're not keen for Oskar to add comparisons for these anytime soon?

[Oskar_Falk]

I saw a Texas Chainsaw porno a while back called "Texas Asshole Massacre".. it was absolutely hysterical, first part was some guy with PTSD crawling around hiding under a tree-branch, then screwing a girl while accusing her of being a "gook spy" (her retort: "whatever, I'm Welsh!", then second part was two girls, (one blonde and highly inexperienced, one quite the opposite), tag teaming some dude and also involved a dildo the size of an elongated dog-food roll, and it ended with the brunette going berserk and chasing the blonde around with the dildo mimicking Leatherface's chainsaw-swinging dance at the end of the original TCM

Really? I always thought that film just made fun of the title. Would you say theyre were many References to TCM or just the end?