The Mothman Prophecies (PG-13)

Purportedly appearing in the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia during the late ‘60s was a man-sized birdlike creature that would eventually became known as Mothman. The legend has since resulted in numerous paranormal and cryptozoological research, tourist designed festivals, a 1975 novel by parapsychologist and Fortean student John Keel, and a 2002 thriller titled “The Mothman Prophecies.”

Directed by Mark Pellington, “The Mothman Prophecies” follows suit with the novel as it depicts the real life events that occurred during that time period, culminating with the catastrophic collapse of the Silver Bridge into the Ohio River on December 15, 1967. The story makes no attempt to do anything other than explain the legend of the Mothman in terms of it actually being real. The movie leaves no room for doubt inside the viewers mind that what occurred was in fact an accurate account.

Two years after an automobile accident, Washington Post reporter John Klein (Richard Gere) is driving to Richmond though he inexplicably gets lost and ends up hundreds of miles off course in the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

After a bizarre encounter with a local man named Gordon (Will Patton) Klein befriends a police officer named Connie (Laura Linney) who explains to him there have been strange events being reported in the area for several weeks.

Unexplained things have been happening to Klein since his arrival, including chilling voices over the phone lines, psychic premonitions, and his mysterious detour to Point Pleasant which somehow only took him one hour to make the five-hundred mile trip.

Klein begins attempting to piece together the mystery of the Mothman, which seemingly has just one purpose; to warn (or simply advise) of impending disasters. Through bits and pieces revealed through a series of haunting phone calls, Klein attempts to identify and prevent an ominous forthcoming catastrophe.

“The Mothman Prophecies” does contain some creepy parts, but all in all is more a mystery than a thriller. The pacing is slow and deliberate, with predictability and a lack of intrigue for the majority of the film. With the acclaim it received, I found “The Mothman Prophecies” to be a major disappointment.

I think the film would have been better off had it just created a fictitious story and legend – giving more development to the actual Mothman other than its quick and somewhat absurd explanation – and gone from there to create an actual horror story as opposed to a quasi horror/thriller/mystery/drama/Richard Gere flirts with a young, single police woman.

I teetered with giving the film a D, but in the end decided it wasn’t bad enough to warrant that, but it’s defiantly not something I would recommend.

by – Matt Christopher