Saturday, June 26, 2010

Cropsey

I continue to be fascinated by 'Cropsey'. Directed by Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman, the documentary is a stylized look at the case of the children who went missing from Staten Island neighborhoods around The Willowbrook Mental Institution in the late 80s.
Here's an excerpt from Michael Calleri's review:

The movie is called "Cropsey," and it's a flat-out frightening documentary that makes most fictional horror movies look like child's play. Directors Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman have cleverly figured out a way to take fact-based material and blend it into a form that makes it seem as if you're watching something that can't possibly be true. 

What happens in "Cropsey" is so challenging and creepy that when it ends, your mental footing may be so roiled that you may not want to leave the theater.

That's the way I feel after watching the trailer. I've seen so many horror movies. Usually, they're boring and predictable. At best they can shock you with amped-up music stings which underscore bland action -- like when a cat jumps out of the shadows. 'Cropsey', on the other hand, has a cold electricity. The imagery gets to me and the fact that it deals with actual events makes it all the more creepy.

In a year we get maybe one or two really engrossing documentaries like 'Cropsey'. 'March of the Penguins' comes to mind.  Despite being documentaries, these films are far more dramatic and compelling than most Hollywood features can dream of being.

Here's a trailer for 'Cropsey'.

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