Cropsey

Two filmmakers from Staten Island set out to investigate the urban legend they grew up with, only to find that the story of Cropsey, a boogeyman said to haunt the grounds of a former state school, appears to connect to a real series of child disappearances. As they dig into the cases of five missing children and the figure locals linked to those vanishings, the line between local folklore and actual crime becomes harder to draw.

Joshua Zeman directed and wrote the documentary, working with co-director and producer Barbara Brancaccio. The film was released in 2010 and runs 84 minutes, mixing crime, documentary, horror and mystery elements. It is the first feature in Zeman's directing career, preceding Killer Legends (2014) and Checkpoint Zoo (2024). Zeman and Brancaccio appear as themselves, alongside folklorist Bill Ellis, archivist and researcher Dorothy D'Eletto, Karen Schweiger, mother of Jennifer Schweiger, and archival footage featuring reporter Geraldo Rivera. Fifty-eight cast members are credited.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.3 out of 10 from around 10,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6 out of 10 from 185 votes, indicating a modest but widely registered audience response. A critics' rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 45 reviews places professional assessments noticeably higher than the general audience scores on both platforms.