In the 2009 documentary "Cropsey," filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio dive into the depths of their home of Staten Island to investigate the urban legend of Cropsey, who is said to be the boogeyman of Staten Island.
Warning: possible spoilers.
The legend was told to the young children growing up on Staten Island that Cropsey, an escaped mental patient who lived in the old tunnels beneath WillowBrook Mental Institution, would come out at night and grab children off the streets. Growing up in Staten Island, both filmmakers can share different accounts of this urban legend. They believed that it was just a simple story to keep young children and teenagers off the streets and safe from doing the average teenage thing. Yet that all changed when one summer in 1987, a little girl named Jennifer Schweiger went missing. This so-called legend became a horrifying truth for those on Staten Island.
This documentary provides horrific information on the whole history of Staten Island, home to over a half-million people. They shed a light onto the past of the island and how it was the perfect place for any crime. It was believed that due to being the most heavily forested borough in New York, the island became easy dumping grounds for any bodies left behind by the mafias in the city. They go on to explain to us how that plays into the reason why Cropsey, this no-longer urban legend, took place on Staten Island. They said the most notable location for Cropsey was located in Greenbelt, 2,800 acres of dense forest. The forest was home to an old tuberculosis home and a boys' camp. Locals believed it was Cropsey's home.
Joshua and Barbara share people's views on what Cropsey looks like to them. Some say he was a doctor, others say he was a psycho with a hook for a hand, a common boogeyman quality believed to be a part of every childhood horror story. Taking these eyewitness and police accounts into the form of interviews, they gather further information on the infamous Cropsey.
Throughout this documentary, these filmmakers give earth-shattering information on the history of Greenbelt, the WillowBrook Institution, local eyewitness accounts, and most importantly, actual letters they shared with the number one prime suspect in the disappearance of over five children. Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio take this urban legend and give it life, making it incredibly hard to tell if it's real or just a film.
"The power of the urban legend is that it doesn't claim to be the truth, but rather, that it says the truth is a range of possibilities and it's the audience who must decide, so pick one." -Joshua Zeman
