Cropsey

"The Truth is Terrifying."

2010 1h 24m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 185

CrimeDocumentaryMysteryHorror

Synopsis

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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.

“The Truth is Terrifying.”

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Where to watch · US

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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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joshua Zeman
Writers: Joshua Zeman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

84 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joshua Zeman, shot by Chad Davidson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alex Lasarenko. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio and Bill Ellis carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Truth is Terrifying.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1277936 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joshua Zeman directs. Chad Davidson behind the camera. Alex Lasarenko scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

184 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 16 years ago.
3Directed by Joshua Zeman, shot by Chad Davidson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Alex Lasarenko. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio and Bill Ellis carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The Truth is Terrifying.".
7IMDB entry: tt1277936 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 9 themes, including "kidnapping", "asylum", "satanism", "boogeyman".

The technical file

Cinematography: Chad Davidson
Original score: Alex Lasarenko
Runtime: 84 min · 1h 24m
Status: Released
Box office: $35,456
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Cropsey (2010)

Also by

Joshua Zeman

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-10-22
★ 8.5/10
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

Production companies