Rating: 
Summary: An unconventional and disquieting modern horror film
Review: Certainly "The Mothman Prophecies" reminds me more of "The Blair Witch Project" than any other film I have seen. Both films become almost oppressive in their use of cinematic cues that something is about to happen (a feeling propelled mainly by the ominipresent eerie music in "Mothman") and you are not quite sure what the hell happens in either movie. Director Mark Pellington definitely does a nice job of putting the audience into the perspective of the protagonist, John Klein (Richard Gere) as he tries to unravel this mystery.The hook for this film is a car accident in which a sudden mothlike image startles Klein's wife, Mary (Debra Messing). The resulting accident is not fatal, but leads to the discovery of a brain tumor that proves to be. Klein is haunted by not only Mary's death, but her dying wish that he be happy and her frantic question, "Didn't you see it?" After her death he discovers she has drawn pages of disturbing mothlike images. We then jump ahead two years to the line. Klein, a political reporter for the Washington Post (and therefore a cynical skeptic by occupation if not temperment) leaves at 1 a.m. for Richmond. But at 2:30 he finds his car breaking down near a house in Point Pleasant, West Virginia--400 miles away--with no memory of how he got there. Curiouser and curiouser, when he knock on the door of Gordon Smallwood (Will Patton), he is threatened with a shotgun and told this is the third night in a row he has come knocking on the door. The sinker is Connie Mills (Laura Linney), the local cop who saves Klein from Gordon and who admits that strange things have been happening in this neck of the woods for quite some time, usually having something to do with disturbing mothlike images. You might think that there is an inevitable romance to be had here between Klein and Connie, but whatever attraction exists between the two is nothing in the face of the growing mystery. One of the reasons "The Mothman Prophecies" creates such a sense of disquiet in the audience is that we are not sure exactly how to read the film. Should we be thinking straightforward gothic horror or something more along the lines of science fiction? Eventually I came to the conclusion that part of the dynamic of this film was that we were not supposed to figure it out; indeed, you cannot. I watched the film a second time specifically to try and make pieces fit (no, did not read the book, but am interested in doing so given the comments of other reviewers), and I could not do it. Nor could I really lay out the powers of the Mothman in a way that would be particularly helpful. Indeed, I became so wary in this film that I was unwilling to believe phone calls were from the characters we heard unless we actually saw the person talking to Klein on the other end of the connection. Gere's character is trying to proceed in good old journalistic fashion, but is constantly left befuddled by the people he talks to and the events he witnesses. Linney provides the stability in the film, not just to Gere's character but to the entire situation. The emotional heart of the film is Patton, as the local guy caught up in events beyond his wildest imagaintion, although Lucinda Jenney, playing his wife Denise, provides wonderful support (her scene in the hall of the hospital where she offers her husband total support is the small acting gem in the film). "The Mothman Prophecies" is not a conventional horror film, and I suspect that those who have the most trouble with it will be those least satisfied by unconventional films. Ultimately, this is a film (and a story) where the questions are more important that the answers. The fact that those answers are virtually nonexistent only underscores the point that we are not supposed to know what is going on. Actually, there is something to be said for a film that reduces both its main characters and audience alike to asking themselves "What just happened?" and "What does it mean?"
Rating: 
Summary: maybe its just me
Review: but this movie in my opinion was close to perfect. off the top of my head i dont think i can name any flaws, but i also know that i have not read the book yet which supposedly is so much better, but for a first encounter with the mothman story, i'd say the movie was pretty thrilling, and it did not overuse curse words or violence, it just made you think and try to imagine what the situation meant to everyone, and how they must have felt. entertaining thoughtful film.
Rating:
Summary: Intense and Entertaining 5 Star Thriller!
Review: This is a must see movie for hard to scare fans of the supernatural.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary In All The Wrong Ways
Review: This movie is comprehensively banal, moronic, and utterly lacking in basic truths. The acting of everyone, primarily Richard Gere and the ultra-pale, ultra-blonde, ultra-skinny woman who played the town cop (Laura Linney?), wallows in the ineptitude of melo-drama and fast-food production. Watch in agony as Gere feigns terror and astonishment at a ringing phone which holds his dead trophy wife at the other end. Cringe in horrification as Linney intermittently remembers and forgets to clip her g's (her only attempt at a jinyoowine Appalachian accent). The only element of this movie that hits the mark is the "based on a true story" disclaimer. In this soul-wrenching case, "based on a true story" simply translates as: "screw integrity when there's a buck to be made." Oh yeah, it can also be interpreted to say: "the collective mind is too simple to handle the truth, or at least it's not willing to spend huge amounts of cold cash for dull veracity." Whatever happened to Lord Dunmore and Shawnee Chief Cornstalk in the Mothman legend? Of course, we know why Hollywood changed the date of the Silver Bridge collapse from 12/15/67 to present Christmas Eve: A)It's much easier to keep a budget down when working in a present setting. B)The American mind is too daft to live without a Christian legend of its own to tug at the plastic heart strings. The number of people killed in the Silver Bridge accident stands at 46. In what appears to be an attempt at deep, numeroligical symbolism, Hollywood changed the number to 36, therefore denying 10 people who actually perished in the accident their place in this ill-conceived monument. Obviously, you should not waste your time or pseudo-dollars on this one. Richard Gere is still a bad actor and an even worse Buddhist in this giant conflagration of bad taste. Thanks again Hollywood for taking it all away. "I'm so low-ho woah-oh woahnsome I could cry-ee-eye!"
Rating: 
Summary: Watchable
Review: There are some quantum holes in the central thesis of this film, murky subtext about faith and about grief. But the film is rescued by some great special effects--particularly the climactic scene--and by solid performances by Will Patton and Laura Linney who invariably brings everything she's got to any role she plays. Gere is somewhat leaden and is looking as if he's had his face tightened with the attendant expressionlessness that accompanies plastic surgery. Or else he just didn't feel it. Some good scenes keep the movie going, along with nice, tight editing. It's entertaining but fairly forgettable; certainly not the worst film I've ever seen. It just lacks coherence in terms of just what The Mothman Prophecies are intended to be. Suspend disbelief and this is worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Terror from above or below?
Review: I give this movie high ratings, I just saw it last night from 2am to 4am. Big mistake, it scared the living garbanzo beans out of me and I simply could not sleep. I kept having horrible dreams. The film is great because it doesn't show much but instead taps into that primitive imagination of ours. Whoo! Very good job. Watch it late one night like me, but don't see it alone!
Rating:
Summary: understanding the movie
Review: For the reviewers who thought this movie lacked an ending, I would say you missed the point the movie was trying to make. The key to the message was "do you try to find an answer for what's happening, or do you have faith in the message you're being given?". In the end, the character played by Richard Gere, John Klein, decided against trying to find the earthly answer for what was happening, and chose to believe in its message, by trying to prevent the accident it predicted. That's why he did not answer his wife's phone call. Also, if you do not finish it to the very end, you missed out completely on the significance of Connie's dream, which you cannot find out until the very end. This is truly a movie depicting the spirit world communicating with the earthly world. It is not a scary movie, but it IS a movie which attempts to ask us how much vision we really can have, without having to have answers for it. Think of the message in the Bible which came from the burning bush -- did we try to find out WHO WAS IN THE BURNING BUSH first, before we would listen instead to the message?
Rating:
Summary: Just Awful
Review: Boring, meandering "thriller" that should never have been made. The mysteries aren't wrapped up, leaving the viewer with more questions than answers. The non-resolution would have bothered me more if I truly cared about anything in this terrible movie. Skip this one!
Rating:
Summary: Chilling
Review: I saw it first on an Europe-US flight. Sent chilling feelings around my body in the beginning. Saw the end during very lousy airholes. Thats a must. Cannot be topped.
Rating:
Summary: Well-Made Fluff
Review: The Mothman Prophecies has one genuinely spooky moment - Richard Gere breathlessly realizing that the Mothman seems to know everything. The rest is an atmostpheric puff piece - very enjoyable, but ultimately low-calorie fare. I wasn't creeped out, as so many others seems to be (with the exception of the scene mentioned previously), but I did have a good time, and hey, what's wrong with that? At times, alas, as always, Gere seems to be phoning his part in, but at least I didn't hear him mention Tibet.
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