Two film-makers investigate the disappearance of five children and the real boogeyman linked to them.
Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio had often heard the legend of Cropsey. For the kids in their neighbourhood, Cropsey was the escaped mental patient who lived in the old, abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution and would come out at night to snatch children off the streets. Later, as teenagers, the filmmakers assumed Cropsey was just an urban legend: a cautionary tale used to keep them out of those abandoned buildings.
That all changed in the summer of 1987 when 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger disappeared from their community. Now, as adults, Joshua and Barbara have returned to Staten Island to create Cropsey, a film that delves into the mystery behind Jennifer and four additional missing children. The film also investigates Andre Rand, the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.
Embarking on a mysterious journey into the underbelly of their forgotten borough, these filmmakers uncover a reality that is more terrifying than any urban legend.
"Disturbing and flavourful."
NEW YORK TIMES
"As intriguing as it is downright eerie."
FILM THREAT
"Cropsey has all the trappings of a true-crime TV special, but with an undercurrent of cultural exposition that is intelligent, profound and unsettling."
VARIETY
"The filmmakers tell the story with wit, verve, and compassion."
NEW YORKER
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