Cropsey
Cinema Purgatorio | Release Date: June 4, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A chillingly effective documentary. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Cropsey is compelling as a meditation on how we use stories to explain the inconceivable, and how if no story is handy, we take the available clues and make one up. Read full review
80
Time OutEric Hynes
With tinkling thriller music and dramatic voiceover narration, this modest but engrossing first-person documentary comes on like a true crime caper. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsStaff (Not credited)
Disturbing and flavorful, with a real sense of S.I. atmosphere. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
A documentary that delves into what happens when the ghost stories you told as kids, the stuff of urban legends, seem to come true. Read full review
75
MovielineMichelle Orange
Ultimately -- and perhaps fittingly -- Cropsey is most effective as a study of Staten Island and its inhabitants, specifically the half-life of grief as it is manifested in a self-contained community. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A creepy documentary with all the elements of a horror film about a demented serial killer, and an extra ingredient: This one is real. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
On several levels, this film is a real-life horror story that puts most Hollywood movies to shame. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
The story of the unsolved abductions and the man who might have become the scapegoat for a community is troubling enough. No big-screen trickery is required. Read full review
70
VarietyJohn Anderson
Cropsey has all the trappings of a true-crime TV special, but with an undercurrent of cultural exposition that is intelligent, profound and unsettling. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Its straggling, true-crime narrative, leaping hither and yon like a dog chasing butterflies, is not what holds the film together; the real glue is the emergence of a parallel between location and suspect, between literal dumping ground and figurative. This is so effective that there was no need for the directors to conduct a handheld, "Blair Witch"-y foray into the nighttime woods -- their film is creepy enough in broad daylight. Read full review
70
NPRBob Mondello
The filmmakers tried to get him to tell his side of the story, but he's unwilling to appear on camera. Which leaves them in documentary limbo, since they've gone to great lengths to raise questions in the audience's mind about the case. The answers they've found are questions, their conclusion, inconclusive. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Disturbing true-crime documentary. Read full review
60
Village VoiceNicolas Rapold
Embracing what's really standard tabloid fodder of the decade with earnest engagement and doled-out suspense, Cropsey is one step from macabre comedy. Read full review
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