Cropsey

2009

1h 24m

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

158

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1 Video

7 Images

Crime

Documentary

Mystery

Horror

Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.

Directors

Joshua Zeman

Barbara Brancaccio

Writers

Joshua Zeman(writer by)

Stars

Joshua Zeman

Barbara Brancaccio

Bill Ellis

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Top cast

Joshua Zeman

Himself

Barbara Brancaccio

Herself

Bill Ellis

Himself - Professor of Folklore, Penn State

Dorothy D'Eletto

Herself - Archivist & Researcher

Geraldo Rivera

Himself - Reporter (archive footage)

Karen Schweiger

Herself - Jennifer Schweiger's Mother

David Navarro

Himself - Former Newscaster

Donna Cutugno

Herself - Founder, Friends of Jennifer

Ralph Aquino

Himself - Retired Detective, NYPD

Bobby Jensen

Himself - Retired Detective, NYPD

Ernie Anastos

Himself - Reporter (archive footage)

Andre Rand

Himself - Suspect

Jim Callaghan

Himself - Former Editor, Staten Island Eagle

Jim Dolan

Himself - Reporter (archive footage)

Theresa Doyle

Herself - Searcher for Jennifer

Ed Armstrong

Himself - Holly Ann Hughes's Brother

Sean Hughes

Himself - Holly Ann Hughes's Brother (archive footage)

Peter Hughes

Himself - Holly Ann Hughes's Father

Directors

Joshua Zeman

Barbara Brancaccio

Writers

Joshua Zeman(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

The Facts or the Folklore? What is a Cropsey? A Cropsey is the name given to a bogeyman used to frighten children by way of safe education (stay away from that place/that man/them woods etc). When Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio grew up they learnt that their Cropsey was in fact real. Or was he? Andre Rand was a convicted child kidnapper from Staten Island who is strongly suspected to have committed a number of child kidnappings and murders between 1972 and 1987. Most of the missing children were special needs cases, and with Rand having close ties to Willowbrook State School, a sorry place for the mentally ill thats conditions were exposed by Geraldo Rivera’s infamous documentary in 1972, and his known living arrangements out in the Greenbelt Woods around Willowbrook, he seemed the likely culprit for sure. Zeman and Brancaccio do a sterling job of piecing together all available evidence and reports involving Rand, including interviews with family and friends of the missing children and the detectives who worked on the case. They even have epistle contact with Rand as they try to arrange a meeting with their very own bogeyman. The footage and stories involving Willowbrook are skin crawlingly effective, the visits to the ruins of the place equally creepy. We constantly see pictures of the missing children, and that of the only one who was found, murdered, close to one of Rand’s makeshift campsites. These are real horrors in this horror film, and they cut the psyche like a knife. Unfortunately the makers lose a little focus in the final third, as more revelations and accusations enter the debate some of the unease wears off, the doc gets chocked as it were, and some of the harsh realities are replaced by fanciful supposition. Still, in the main this is a tremendous documentary, challenging and unbiased. It could just have been Zeman and Brancaccio walking around interviewing the usual suspects et al, but they go deeper than that to leave a lasting impression on both the mind and the soul. 8.5/10

John Chard22 Oct, 2014