Review of Cropsey (2010) by Mike C — 03 Dec 2010

For the first 10 minutes or so, I thought this was an Oh Sweet Baby Jesus I Have to Sleep with the Lights on Tonight kind of documentary. It then mellowed out and took a differently, slightly misleading turn towards basically the investigation of one man.

Cropsey is a great name, and there is a great urban legend behind it. On top of that, the setting is perfectly horrific. A real life House on Haunted Hill. In the 60s and 70s, an institution was home to several hundred severely mentally ill/disabled kids. A young Geraldo Rivera helped get the place shut down with an expose on conditions. Videos, pictures, and stories of that time are quite creepy and set an early tone of horror. Fortunately or unfortunately, that's all just back story to a more mundane story.

Most of the documentary revolves around the disappearance of some Staten Island kids and the investigation and trial of the only suspect in the case. Unfortunately, it's fairly tedious, and nothing is ever really resolved. That could be the point of the documentary: that somehow urban legends played a role when evidence took a back seat, or that we as a society are capable of putting a guy away for life based on the way he presents himself over evidence. That's kinda creepy stuff in and of itself, but not what I tuned in for. Interesting case study, but the final 60+ minutes definitely cool down a very spooky first 10-15 minutes.