As Halloween approaches in New York City, just about everyone is jumping into the cauldron to unveil their own programs celebrating the darker side of cinema (more on that next week). And while just about all of those choices are very good ones, for my money, one of the scariest options isn’t even a horror film—at least in the traditional sense of the term. Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio’s Cropsey is a documentary investigation into the disappearance of several disabled young girls in 1980s Staten Island. I awarded the film my own personal Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, writing this:
While I also connected deeply to this film’s subject matter on a purely superficial level, Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio have produced a work that thoughtfully and expansively explores the urban legend phenomenon. At the same time, Cropsey is a chilling investigation of one particular community’s missing children problem. That it happens in Staten Island adds immeasurably seedy flavor to the proceedings. With this particular case, Zeman and Brancaccio get to cross off the checklist in one fell swoop—boogeyman, Satanism, deranged madman. But the best part—the part that makes these urban legends so fascinating and this film so exceptional—is that they aren’t able to provide a cut-and-dry answer to put these myths to bed. As a result, Cropsey only stokes our imaginations’ spookiest fires.
Brandon Harris also dug it very much. Read his take here.
The film screens at 8pm tomorrow night (Saturday, October 24th), followed by a Q&A with the directors that is moderated by Fangoria’s Sam Zimmerman. Go here for details.
— Michael Tully
