The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

I am fully aware that The Mothman Prophecies divides opinions among fans of the horror genre. That is not even taken into consideration whether people believe these events occurred or not. It is just one of these films. I first seen The Mothman Prophecies ten years ago - late night on TV. I had never even heard of it before. It was just by mere luck that I stumbled upon it that night. I was just transfixed by it and the fact that it was inspired by true events made it even the more awe-inspiring. It was actually the legend of The Mothman that ignited an interest in the paranormal for me. I subsequently read all the books about the events that inspired this film.John Klein (played by Richard Gere) is a Washington Post who loses the love of his life, Mary (played by Debra Messing). Two years have passed since her death and he is still trying to come to terms with the loss of his wife. He is drawn to the sleepy town of Point Pleasant where the residents are plagued by strange sightings and events that have cursed them for the better part of a year which builds to the distressing climax. This is a slow atmospheric moody movie. The film is like a melting pot of different genres, from drama to mystery to thriller to horror. Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Patton and Debra Messing put in strong performances here. The whole film feels like an episode of The X-Files and why wouldn't it? This is the kind of stories that made The X-Files so popular. It stands out from the crowd in that it offers something different to the horror goer, more profound and existential.It really is a well made film with excellent cinematography and special effects. The sound, feel and touch of the film is eerie and spellbinding. It has many 'spine-tingler' moments that will keep the most demanding horror goer on the edge-of-their-seat. It is a beast of a movie. I guess the reason it is so misunderstood is that they want a conclusion, something to tie up with a little bow and bury in the backyard but that doesn't always have to be, in fact, what you don't understand is often more terrifying.

John is a reporter for the Washington Post. His life takes a bad turn when he and his wife have an encounter with Mothman that results in a car accident. Neither are seriously hurt, but the wife is discovered to have a rare brain tumour. Before she dies, she draws pictures of Mothman. Two years later John is driving late at night and breaks down. He discovers that he has mysteriously ended up in a small town in West Virginia — nowhere near where he was travelling. Befriending the local policewoman, John discovers that the town has had a number of paranormal disturbances. John's life is thrown into turmoil when he tries to investigate.The Mothman prophecies is chilling and disturbing. Made more so by the fact that the film was based on real events. Although the movie has no doubt been dramatized, I found it very interesting. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in unexplainable paranormal events.

Well, this sure was an interesting movie. First of all, if you are a someone who really hates a horror movie (even if i would not use that term for this movie) where the monster is never or rarely shows, you probably will not enjoy this movie.If you are however a fan of the older movies where the monster is rarely shows (like Cat People from 1942) you will enjoy it. Sometimes it's better to concentrate on the story rather than the monster, and in this movie i think they made the right choice to have the monster take a backseat to the rest of the cast.The story is at first center on a reporter named John Klein and his adventures with the supernatural in the west point area. Things take a turn to the supernatural when people start to hear voices, see strange things and get a glimpse of what may happen. During the time he spends in town we start to feel badly for him because the supernatural is starting to target him, driving him close to the brink of madness at some point.Richard Gere does a good job as John Klein with the exception of a few scenes where he hams it up and the rest of the cast all do a pretty good job. The movie has its ups and downs, but in the end it's a pretty good story. The atmosphere of the movie is not scary at all, but the story managed to stay well to the end, except for the very end.

This one came out of left field. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was gripping and fascinating. It was engaging emotionally and intellectually. Although things didn't always make sense, it was often surprising. In fact, the seemingly nonsensical stuff didn't bother me as it usually does; it even added to the allure of the mysteries. I enjoyed that it was a "new" mythology with a "creature" that hasn't been done to death before. Even better, it was ambiguous and intelligent. This is also a movie that's very stylishly directed with nice transitions, angle shots and filters. For such a gloomy film taking place mostly in a suburb, it sure looked pretty. The acting was top-notch with Richard Gere being impressive, and the other actors, especially the character actors, sounding true. Most of all, this movie was creepy as hell, not by being bloody and gory, but by creating atmosphere and scaring us with seemingly mundane stuff and revelations. The phone calls were particularly disturbing. I highly recommend this film if you're into psychological thrillers with supernatural overtones or loved the X-Files back in the days.Rating: 9 out of 10 (remarkable)