I’ve heard the name Cropsey a number of times over the past week or so, but I still wasn’t really sure what it was or why I should care. All I knew is that it was some sort of horror project that people were comparing to The Blair Witch Project, and while normally that might pique my interest, the thought of another low budget knockoff didn’t really appeal to me at this point in time. It turns out that Cropsey is a real documentary that premiered at Tribeca last month about the urban legend of an escaped mental patient who kidnapped and murdered children on Staten Island back in the 1980s. Okay… now you’ve got my attention.

Directors Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio had heard the tale when they were younger, thinking that it was just a ghost story to keep kids away from the abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution. However, as they set out to investigate the mystery over 20 years later, they find that some urban legends have truth to them after all. The trailer for the film seems to have some creepy scenes where they actually visit the mental institution, which is probably where The Blair Witch comparisons come in. But other than that, this is not some fabricated mockumentary… you can find information on Andre Rand, the man linked with the murders, elsewhere on the web. Does this look like it might be worth checking out? For more info and a list of upcoming screenings, visit the film’s official website. IFC will also release it via VOD on June 1st; check out the trailer after the jump.