Rating: 
Summary: An eerie, moody psychological "chiller"...
Review: If you loved the "X-Files" at its best, or films such as "The Sixth Sense" or "The Others" which placed a premium on creepiness and "playing with your mind", and a minimum on blood and gore, then I can virtually guarantee that you'll like "The Mothman Prophecies". This movie is an updated version of a classic 1975 book which told the supposedly true story about a series of bizarre and frightening events in the little river town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1966 and 1967. Richard Gere (who I thought gave a good performance, unlike some of the other posters here) plays John Klein, a successful and happily-married political reporter for the Washington Post. One cold evening he and his gorgeous wife Mary (Debra Messing of TV's 'Will and Grace') go to view a house in the DC area that they're planning to buy. On the way back to their current home Mary is driving in a residential area on a deserted street when she is shocked to see a huge "man-monster" with wings and glowing red eyes flying straight at their car. John doesn't see the creature, but Mary loses control of the car, they wreck, and she is injured. At the hospital John receives more bad news - Mary has brain tumor and is going to die. After her death he finds a notebook in which Mary has written the word "RUIN" over and over, and has done dozens of chilling drawings of the creature she saw. A couple of years later Klein, still grieving over his wife's death, takes what appears to be a routine trip on the interstate to Richmond, Virginia to interview the state's governor. On the late-night trip he seems to "doze off" for a few seconds, and when he comes to he's no longer on the interstate but a backwoods country road near Point Pleasant, West Virginia - hundreds of miles from his previous location a few moments earlier. His car suddenly dies, and he is forced to walk for help. I won't give away anymore of the plot, but I will say that the characters he meets in Point Pleasant are all very well-played. Among them are Will Patton, who plays a troubled but basically decent man who is slowly being driven insane by the bizarre "Mothman" creature which keeps haunting him at night. Laura Linney is an attractive and down-to-earth deputy sherriff who helps John investigate the "Mothman" sightings in Point Pleasant. Over time she finds herself becoming attracted to him - and becoming increasingly frightened at the supernatural events in her hometown and John's growing obsession with them. Alan Bates gives a perfectly creepy performance as a reclusive college professor in Chicago who knows far more about the "Mothman's" real identity and motivations than he's willing to admit (at least at first). Those who watch the "Mothman Prophecies" expecting to see the creature are in for a disappointment, as he only appears VERY briefly in a few moments of the film - yet this is what gives the "Mothman Prophecies" its chills. By limiting the creature's screen time (at one point the "Mothman" tells Klein over the phone that it can appear to be whatever the individual person viewing it wants to see), it covers the entire movie with an awful sense of foreboding - a sense that something is not quite right in Point Pleasant - and that things are building towards a terrible climax. This "Special Edition" DVD set features the superb "Searching for the Mothman" documentary which aired on the FX cable channel just before the movie's release. It features commentary by paranormal researcher John Keel, who wrote the classic 1975 book upon which the movie was based. It also has interviews with Point Pleasant residents who claim they saw the "Mothman" back in 1966 and 1967. In many ways this movie plays like a high-budget, high-quality "X-Files" episode. If your idea of a "scary movie" is to see lots o' blood and gore, then you should NOT buy this movie! However, if you enjoy films which prove that what's not shown is sometimes far scarier than what is shown, then the "Mothman Prophecies" will have you looking over your shoulder for a very long time. Recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: hail the mothman
Review: some creepiness is in this movie with some common jolts along the way and a nice finale that adds to the touch. Gere is fascinating as always. the bridge part where the bridge collapses in the water below is the coolest part in the movie. pretty freaky.
Rating: 
Summary: Look--in the sky--it's a bird! It's a plane! It's--MOTHMAN!
Review: In the dizzyingly action-packed tradition of "Spider-Man" and "The Hulk", "The Mothman Prophecies" is the fast-paced story of the reclusive Mothman, a gossamer-caped crimefighter who swoops down on the Forces of Evil from his secret underground base in the hills of West Virginia. OK, OK, I'm kidding. That's not what the movie is about, I just couldn't help myself. Alright now: "The Mothman Prophecies" is a tastily creepy little mood piece that takes hearty helpings of conspiracy theory, precognition, UFO abductions, hauntings from beyond the grave, and Men in Black, throws them in a big cauldron, stirs and seasons with plenty of dark, brooding, atmosphere, and serves it up with a whallop. And what a whallop! If you're looking for 8-foot tall Mothmen swooping down from the trees and carrying of their screaming victims, then you should look elsewhere, because that's not what this deliciously spooky film is all about. But "The Mothman Prophecies" snuck up on me, whalloped me with its unrelenting creepiness, and left me confused, spooked, and wanting more, and really---what more can you ask of a film? "Mothman" centers on the strange adventure of its grieving widower hero John Klein (played---erm, affably by Richard Geere), a Washington Post reporter and political analyst. Two years after his wife dies of a brain tumor following a mysterious car accident, he is dispatched to Virginia to interview the governor. Four hours later, his car breaks down on a lonely stretch of rural road, his watch stops, and, afflicted with a strong case of the creeps, he walks up the road to get help at a nearby house. That's when things in "The Mothman Prophecies" take a wonderful little detour for the Strange. The man who comes to the door of the first house Gere comes to greets him with a surly "that's him again" and a shotgun---and seconds later, Gere finds himself huddled inside Gordon Smallwood's (played to distracted perfection by fine veteran character actor Will Patton) shower, held at gunpoint. When policewoman Connie Parker (played inquisitively by Laura Linney) arrives, the shoe drops hard: Gere has been knocking on Smallwood's door for three nights in a row. Oh, and instead of being in the middle of Virginia, he's in Point Pleasant, West Virginia---400 miles from where he should have been. Director Mark Pellington takes this fine start and just keeps ratcheting up the creepiness from there; not a single second of the film's running time is wasted, and Pellington crafts an atmosphere of impending dread, doom, and general menace. And he's got some good material to draw on: "Mothman" is based on the book by John Keel (who wrote the screenplay), which deals with events that actually took place in 1966 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. So what do you get for your money? You get roughly 100 minutes of sheer, spooky creepiness, with very little gore---and this movie doesn't need it. When I finished "Mothman Prophecies" and crawled into bed, for the first time I noticed just how easily the shadows in my bedroom could cloak---well, something big, something Mothlike. Brrr.... You get Richard Gere, who in this film, anyway, is no great shakes. He has two expressions: Affably confused, or Confusedly affable. But it's alright, and it works for the most part. Laura Linney is a curious choice; sympathetic, but always appearing as if she's on the edge of revealing something. Patton plays his Gordon with a nice broth of simmering paranoia and kookiness, and steals the show. English actor Alan Bates has a hammy turn as Dr. Alexander Leek, who, asked about the mysterious Mothman, contends "we're not allowed to know." But the real star here is the technique used to build up a sense of otherworldly menace: Pellington's strange camera shifts (and kudos also to Fred Murphy, who did the cinematography), half-seen shadowy figures, dizzying aerial shots, cameras that swoop down on their subjects. It all works well, a little too well, in that you're totally keyed up by the film's final credits. In addition to that, the movie boasts two of the creepiest sequences in terror movie history: try not to have goosebumps when Gere has a whispered phone conversation with the mysterious Indrid Cold, or when he's waiting for a promised phone call from his 'wife'. This is nasty, shivery stuff---just make sure your nightlight is working for when the film is over.
Rating:
Summary: soul stirring
Review: a highly stirring, soul churning tour of fear and loss that taps into emotions in far more powerful ways than most horror and psychological thrillers. The camera shots are spectacular and the performances are masterful. I was surprised and shocked by this extremely well made film.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't say it was any better.
Review: Seeing the movie Signs, which I highly enjoyed, inspired me to see the sci-fi thriller, The Mothman Prophecies. It's about a man who's wife get a car accident, but seconds before the accident, she sees a mothman like figure on the road. At the hospital, she dies, and the man finds a book of drawings she did of the mothman. He didn't see it on the road, so he doesn't know what they are. Later, he finds out she's not the only one who's seen it.
I would highly reccomend this film to anyone. It is a great motion picture.
Rating:
Summary: There doesnt have to be GORE to be scarey.
Review: This movie is the best,first off its not a horror FLICK,or just some disturbed maniac running around killing people with a hack saw.The Mothman Prophecies is meant to be a THINKING person's movie,physcological horror at its best(which to me is better than any blood and guts film).This movie makes you wonder,IS the Mothman real,WHAT?does he look like,or have these people just been on some horrid acid trip?The sense of belief in this movie is so strong its seems like its real,like it could happen to anyone,and it does pose the question are we REALLY ever alone?Richard Gere does a magnificant job at acting totally confused and utterly rattled off his hinges.And Will Patton does some of his best work yet,even though i have'nt seen him in a lot of movies.So yes it keeps you guessing without all the lame knife wielding,axe spliting,in your face gore flicks.So if you think the mind can be a scarey thing...take a journey with the Mothman.Living in West Virginia myself and actually being to Point Pleasant a few times,always makes me wonder about things.
Rating:
Summary: Very creepy
Review: The first thing that you will be enticed to do after seeing this movie is to buy the book. Although they differ, they are both great in their differences. The movie tells the story of a reporter who loses his wife after they are in a car accident as a result of her seeing a mysterious being. He goes on assignment shortly thereafter and stumbles, very much by mistake and very mysteriously, on the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia to discover that many people there have been seeing the same thing his wife described before she died. The story comes together beautifully with great acting. It will definitely give you goosebumps and may have you freaking out every time you see a moth that mysteriously got into your room when all the doors and windows were shut. When you consider the fact that it is based on a true story, it makes it all the more chilling. If you like creepy movies with little to no blood and gore (I know, we people who like to be scared but have weak stomachs have few options), this is definitely the movie for you. Watch the movie, buy the book, and don't even try to tell people that both didn't freak you out...just a little.
Rating:
Summary: It creeped me out
Review: This is a very creepy movie. Nothing is shown directly to you. You'll struggle to see what it is that is scaring you but at the same time you really don't want to know. Like when one of the Mothmen becomes a human form and you can only see a silhouette of this figure. Very creepy. One down side to this movie was the characters are about as clueless as the audience as to what a mothman actually is. I found this movie to be much scarier than "The Ring."
Rating: 
Summary: The Boredom Prophecy
Review: This film is extremely slow paced. Ok, sometimes (even a lot of times!) a slow pace works, but this was not the case here. Here, the slow pace was changed into a heavy hand in direction: you feel the movie is "heavy", like overweighted, something like that. The actors do their best, but such interesting plot could be a whole more interesting to the viewer. This is very far from a total waste (the technicals are very good, the cinematography also, but I would not recommend it to anyone except those suffering from insomnia.
Rating:
Summary: A much underrated movie
Review: I thought that Richard Gere gave an excellent performance in this thoroughly suspenseful and ~at times~ frightening movie. His portrayal of John Kline was flawless; believable as the heartbroken and bewildered Washington Post reporter. He kept in the character of a reporter, always questioning and searching for facts. I've also found that the more I watch it, the more nuances I pick up on. This was one of the most underrated movies yet, which only proves that movie critics don't always mimic the opinions of the general public. Watch it, you will be pleasantly surprised.
|
