When was the last time you watched a documentary with a good jump scare? Filmmakers Zeman and Brancaccio investigate a series of child murders in their hometown of Staten Island and end up making a film more creepy than most recent horror fare. While a man is currently in jail for one of the murders, the filmmakers ask if he’s really the killer or just a severely disturbed man who makes for a convenient scapegoat. The film makes some unsettling points about how society treats the mentally ill, but unfolds more like a spooky campfire story than an even-handed documentary.
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2011.
