The Truth Is Terrifying
“intelligent, profound and unsettling….Auds will walk out of their theaters,get in their cars and check on their kids, not necessarily in that order.”
- John Anderson, Variety
“A fascinating documentary of the nightmarish story behind an urban myth come true.”
- Logan Hill, New York Magazine
“Cropsey can be seen as The Blair Witch Project by way of Zodiac and Capturing the Friedmans.”
- Brandon Harris, Filmmaker Magazine
Tribeca Film Festival * Chicago International Film Festival * Sitges Film Festival * Fantastic Fest
(buy for libraries below; for theatrical bookings of the film, see here)
Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery behind five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearance in their hometown of Staten Island, New York.
Growing up on Staten Island, filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio had often heard the legend of ‘Cropsey.’ For the kids in their neighborhood, Cropsey was the escaped mental patient who lived in the old abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution, who would come out late at night and snatch children off the streets. Sometimes Cropsey had a hook for a hand, other times he wielded a bloody axe, but it didn’t matter, Cropsey was always out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting to get them.
Later as teenagers, the filmmakers assumed Cropsey was just an urban legend: a cautionary tale used to keep them out of those abandoned buildings and stop them from doing all those things that teenagers like to do. That all changed in the summer of 1987 when a 13-year-old girl with Down syndrome, named Jennifer Schweiger, disappeared from their community.
That was the summer all the kids from Staten Island discovered that their urban legend was real.
Now as adults Joshua and Barbara have returned to Staten Island to create Cropsey, a feature documentary 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.
