The Mothman Prophecies (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A 100% PURE CREEPSHOW!
Review:
THIS MOVIE WAS THE CREEPIEST PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! AFTER WATCHING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME ON VIDEO,(AT THE RECOMMENDATION OF MY PARANOID, POTHEADED NEIGHBOR)I HAD NIGHTMARES FOR ONE WEEK STRAIGHT!

RICHARD GERE IS EXCELLENT AS THE LONELY, INTELLECTUAL REPORTER WHO IS FORCED TO BATTLE A SUPERNATURAL FORCE BEYOND HIS UNDERSTANDING. THE OTHER SUPPORTING ROLES ARE OK, BUT ITS GERE'S ISOLATION THAT REALLY GIVES THIS MOVIE ITS ATMOSPHERE AND SUSPENSE. NOT SINCE "JACOBS LADDER" HAS A MOVIE LEFT ME WITH SUCH A "LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER" KIND OF FEAR.

WHAT MAKES THIS MOVIE EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE IS THE DIRECTORS REALIZATION THAT LESS CAN BE MORE, LEAVING THE MOTHMANS TRUE MOTIVES AND IDENTITY SHROUDED IN A CLOUD OF MYSTERY. THIS IS WHERE MR. PELLINGTON REALLY DESERVES SPECIAL PRAISE AS A DIRECTOR. INSTEAD OF WALKING INTO THE CLASSIC HORROR/SUSPENSE PITFALL OF TOO MUCH EXPLAINATION, PELLINGTON SHOWS US JUST ENOUGH OF THE MOTHMAN TO ALLOW OUR IMAGINATIONS TO RUN WILD. IT IS ALL THE MORE FRIGHTENING TO THINK THAT THIS MOVIE WAS BASED ON "ACTUAL EVENTS". I'LL NEVER SPEND THE NIGHT ALONE IN A MOTEL 6 AGAIN! THANKS ALOT, MR. GERE!

Rating:
Summary: Creepy!
Review: The Mothman Prophecies is based on a book of the same name, which is based on allegedly true events that took place in West Virginia in the late 1960s, thought similar situations occur in the present day in various parts of the world ... if you believe all that.

I'm not going to spoil the plot by discussing anything specific in the movie, but basically I knew the real Mothman story before I saw the movie so I already knew how it would end. But even if you're like me and you already know what happens, you'll be in for some shocks because the road the movie takes to get to that last scene, last revelation if you will, is an eerie, suspenseful one. This was actually one of the scariest movies I've seen in a really long time, maybe because all this stuff was supposed to have taken place in real life. Even though I've had the DVD for like 2 years now I still get the chills every time I watch it. So in that sense the movie "works."

And actually, I thought for sure that Richad Gere would ruin the whole thing because I can't get the Officer and a Gentleman impression out of my head, but ... nothing at all was ruined and he turns in a very dramatic performance, even if it is a tad over the top. And I agree that Debra Messing and Laura Linney's characters were underdeveloped, so ... they're good eye candy, but don't add to or take anything away from your viewing experience.

I'd compare Mothman Prophecies to Signs because both have that Alfred Hitchcock feel to them. And if you like weird movies, then you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A WASTE OF TIME!
Review: This movie is really a stinker! Normally, any film with actor Richard Gere is good (mostly depending on the type of film it is) But this is pure flop! When I first heard about this movie, I expected a good horror/thriller story that would definately creep me out. In fact, the first review I posted here on amazon.com was of this movie before it came out in theatres. Turns out it's NOT what I was expecting! The acting was bad, the music was dull and boring, there's no scary parts at all, and it all simply did not make any sense! They didn't even find a way to stop the monster/animal (whatever the hell that thing is!) And based on a TRUE STORY? Heck, I'll believe that but I don't think it happened THIS way! Don't waste your time or money on this crapfest! Instead, treat yourself to "Signs" with Mel Gibson. It's so much better!

Rating:
Summary: screamed with terror
Review: Okay i didn't actually scream but this movie scared me s***less. omg I couldn't even walk through the hallway without getting my sister to come with me, much less go to the washroom and look in the mirror. This is the first horror movie i've watched in a long time that had that affect on me. I remember the part where Richard Gere is standing in the hotel beside the wall mirror and talking on the phone when i noticed that as he moved his arm...his shadow didn't. When he walked away, his shadow wasn't in sync with him. And then he shoved the mirror or whatever and you see something in the mirror. God that creeped me out. I stopped the movie after watching a bit more than half of it and then the next day(with all the lights on during the day time)i finally had the guts to watch the rest. Mothman Prophecies is definitely scary and i guess that means the movie works.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste time and money on a bogus movie
Review: Like a feature-length episode of The X-Files, this film "inspired by true incidents" relies on spooky atmosphere to carry a far-fetched story. John Klein (Richard Gere), a political reporter for The Washington Post, is respected at work and happily married to the beautiful Mary (Debra Messing). Then everything comes crashing down: Driving at night, Mary swerves to avoid something - John, in the passenger seat, sees nothing - and cracks her head. In the hospital, she's diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, and dies shortly after. Two years later, John is driving to Richmond, Va., to interview an up-and-coming politician, and somehow makes his way to Point Pleasant, a charmless industrial town on the West Virginia-Ohio border, hundreds of miles from his destination. His car breaks down, he has a run-in with a high-strung local (Will Patton) and self-possessed cop Connie Parker (Laura Linney) lets on that odd things have been happening. Sober, level-headed people claim they've seen a man-sized, moth-like creature with piercing red eyes. Telephone lines screech with unexplained static; people are blinded by inexplicable flashes of red light and bleed from their ears and eyes. And their streaky, haunted sketches of the "mothman" look unnervingly like drawings Mary made in the days before her death. Klein sticks around to investigate, and begins to believe the mothman is delivering a warning: Something terrible is going to happen in Point Pleasant. But what, and when? Director Mark Pellington - who didn't want to make a monster movie and so keeps the mothman on the periphery - does a bang-up job evoking the jitters, the way you feel when you've spooked yourself. Everyday sounds become eerie and threatening, branches scrape at the edges of the frame, shadows and light flares coil themselves into vaguely disturbing shapes and falling leaves seethe with menace; in fact, for a good part of its running time, the film feels like a portrait of a troubled man willing himself to madness. But the creepy set pieces are repetitive and the payoff is rather unsatisfying, even though the prophecies do eventually pan out (in a typically cryptic sort of way). The film's basis on "true events" is shaky: The script is based on The Mothman Prophesies (1975) by the professionally credulous paranormalist John A. Keel, which chronicles a spate of oddball goings-on that preceded a 1967 accident - the kind of things that fill "news of the weird" columns on slow news days.