Cropsey follows two filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio as they interview multiple people involved in the disappearances of at least 5 mentally handicapped children around New York City's Staten Island. Delving to get closer to the truth of the Cropsey phenomenon, they're investigations will take them into some of the darkest chapters of Staten Island's history where truth and legend become entwined.
It's worth pointing out right now that Cropsey has nothing to do with movies at all, this is all real life stuff about real life people. Essentially, some sick and twisted fucker murdered children back in the 70's and 80's, most (if not all) of these kids had one thing in common, they were mentally deficient in one form or another. To date nobody has been convicted for murdering these kids and their bodies have never been discovered. A man was imprisoned for kidnapping one of them however, his name is Andre Rand.
The two filmmakers interview police detectives, local members of the community, media presenters of the time and a slew of other people who were connected to either Staten Island or directly to Andre Rand.
Cropsey at times does come off as being very emotive. If you like your documentaries to be clinical and dry then you may have issues here. Whether the documentary has been purposefully done this way or this dark emotionalised style is simply a reflection of where the minds of the directors are, is up in the air. I suspect it's a combo of both.
The factual veracity of Cropsey is something I can't really comment on since i know nothing of this issue. However, i find the documentary as a whole to be stirring and genuinely sincere. If these people are acting they're the best actors I have ever seen - and i mean that!
I'm reluctant to divulge too much of what's contained simply cause i don't wanna spoil the thing but if you watch Cropsey, it's a documentary that'll stay with you for a long time. There's a lot to think about here and it sends a stark warning as to the darkness that resides in some men's hearts. To be honest, I did'nt expect too much from this going into watching it but by the end i found it riveting. Certainly anyone looking for info on the Staten Island child murders needs to watch this. For more casual viewers looking for an interesting nights watch you could do far worse than getting a view of this one. Recommended without reserve.