Cropsey

This story could be incredible in the hands of better documentarians. It does build a decent creepy vibe at times, but it's full of weaknesses: Cheesy narrations, lack of clear vision, a fair bit of audience manipulation, and faux objectivity. The couple of moments where the two documentarians interact with each other are so painfully fake. 'I don't want to go in there.' 'but we need to.' 'I don't want to.' 'I'm going in there.' YOU AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH ACTORS TO PASS THIS OFF AS NOT-STAGED

An occasionally interesting look at the Staten Island bogeyman/bogeymen. Ultimately inconclusive and somewhat masturbatory.

A guy who probably killed a bunch of kids is portrayed as the probable killer, but hey, what if it was this boogeyman and people are into Satanic rituals, oh nevermind.

Some interesting concepts of the fictitious narratives both children and adults create to make sense of the darker elements of society and how crimes of individuals can often be traced back to the failings of governments. Ultimately, a lack of vision of what the film-makers wanted to get across and a fair heft of sensationalism made this a distinctly average documentary.

Cropsey never feels like anything more than a load of conjecture. The "real-life boogeyman" never felt like he was actually part of the film itself as a real person. Basically Cropsey just joins in on the folk-lore villain without actually trying to humanize him in any sort of angle. Entertaining for sure but if you really enjoy documentaries this one just isn't up to par.

Not awful but overall unfocused. It's a movie in search of a narrative that it struggles throughout to find. You can tell that the filmmakers thought the movie was going one place and it just didn't end up there.

Interesting, intensely atmospheric examination of the roots of local folklore, but ultimately hindered by its lack of experienced directors.

How do you manage to make a real-life horror story so boring?!

The problem with this movie is that it just drops the Cropsey folklore angle and becomes a standard Inside Edition type program. The devil worship angle that's brought up really spiced things back up though but it's like the spice from a tomato or whatever

I think this film is often underestimated by those who overlook the fact that it's explicitly about sociology, not forensics (ie the crime investigation itself, or the evidence, or the question of the guilt of innocence of Andre Rand). This actually illustrates the film's theme. That said, the film brings some of this criticism on itself with rather obvious manipulative, tabloid-style tactics (ridiculous Blair Witch-style filming being one example).

I felt like the directors were leaving out some information in order to keep the mystery alive.

Creepy and a fun "watch with the lights off" documentary, but it might not be the most accurate look at folklore or its boogeyman. While I won't fault it for its low-budget look, it doesn't do the best job of bringing out all sides. Instead, it goes for entertainment factor, and it hits pretty hard in that regard. A fun watch,; about it.

Pretty amatuer but still effective look at the local boogeyman.

A fantastic story, but I can't help but feel it would've benefited from a more experienced and professional group of filmmakers.

It's not a journalistic account of the cases proper, but I watch plenty of those. I enjoyed this format. Now I'm off to do some googling.

Some people's OCD prevents them from watching true crime documentaries, 'cause triggers and stuff. I only have myself to blame for the two sleepless nights a random click in Hulu caused. I didn't, however, find the film to be yellow or tabloid. Thanks to having a good college instructor, I'm a sociology buff, so I was at least able to ride this one out and enjoy what the filmmakers were trying to say.

Is interesting to a certain extent, but I never felt a huge impact from this doc.

Amatuer but it's an interesting mix of true crime documentary and those 'ghost adventures' shows on the travel channel. There's enough ridiculous conjecture that this should probably be considered a fictional entertainment piece rather than any kind of serious documentary.

Not great, gets a little bit creepy in the final act, but it's not memorable

"The portentous narration and manipulative horror-film aesthetics turn what might have been a portrait of a boogeyman myth's lingering societal role into merely a crude episode of 48 Hours." - Nick Schager

Truly chilling and intensely frightening.

Interesting documentary with a great mood to it. If it were handled by a more professional lot of filmmakers, it may have been better. Regardless, I enjoyed it and the true crime tale was captivating enough to keep me interested throughout.

Amateurs, no real information just a bunch of gossip, but what's worse is that it's boring

Good atmosphere, but sort of all over the place. Better than any Michael Moore 'documentary', that's for sure.

Didn't engage me like I wanted. Too much conjecture, not enough substance.