Mothman Movie Reviews
Related Subjects:
Science
Family movie reviews for "Mothman" sorted by average review score:
The Mothman Prophecies
Released in DVD by Columbia Tristar Hom (04 June, 2002)
Starring: Richard Gere and Laura Linney
Described by director Mark Pellington as "a psychological mystery with naturally surreal overtones," The Mothman Prophecies begins like an ambitious episode of The X-Files. Richard Gere brings adequate torment, portent, and ambiguity to his role as a Washington Post reporter and grieving widower plagued by a mysterious, unseen urban legend known as the Mothman. Pellington develops subtle doom and gloom that's as effective as the paranoid streak he brought to Arlington Road. As the Mothman terrifies a West Virginia town, he remains an enigma, glimpsed almost subliminally. This--along with a magnificently creepy soundtrack--amplifies the movie's surreal overtones while keeping everything else (unsettling phone calls, prophesied disasters, suggestions of the afterlife) completely unexplained. With Laura Linney and Debra Messing in underdeveloped roles, The Mothman Prophecies feels a bit underdeveloped itself (and ends in desperate need of Mulder and Scully). But if you like your weirdness open-ended, this moody thriller's worth a look. --Jeff Shannon
Average review score: 
Well-Directed, Poorly CraftedThe case of the Mothman sightings in West Virginia have long been part of paranormal lore, especially due to John A. Keel's book on the events. "The Mothman Prophecies" alas, is a movie that wanders completely away from the original story and decides to update it in a puzzling, boring way. The original events, some consider them real others a hoax, took place in 1966, the movie updates the story to 2002 and adds it's own spin on things. This would be fine if the script had been crafted a little better, but instead it wanders around in circles. Plot points are never fully connected or even explained, and we never even get a good look at the Mothman which makes us wonder, why is it even called the MOTHMAN? The photography however, is really well-done and has a nice, mysterious look, like in the early X-Files episodes, but while the material is well-directed, it seems like a puzzle without solutions. At least the original book has it's own explanations, and no matter how out of this world they might seem, they are still explanations. In the film for example, Richard Gere's wife dies as a result from a car crash they were involved in soon after spotting the Mothman, and she begins to draw visions of the creature on paper, ok, interesting. But later in the film no connection is established between her death and the Mothman, in fact, nothing connects in this movie. What exactly are the Mothman Prophecies? The movie has been compared to The X-Files, but The X-Files has always had a continuing thread through-out it's plots and ideas, Mulder is always trying to prove that aliens exist and the government is trying to cover it up, but in "The Mothman Prophecies" all we get is a heartbroken widower who gets weird phone calls from a husky voice. Is it from the after-life? Is it an alien? For the rental or ticket price, we'd like to know. Read the book, skip the film.
Based On True EventsFirst, I would like to say I was impressed that Richard Gere volunteered to do this film, as offbeat and cult as it must have sounded on paper.
I believe if you have some knowledge of the strange events known as The Mothman sightings, you may find this movie more entertaining. Particularly the events occurring in Point Pleasant. If you do not know the legend, you may be lost while viewing this film. Since I cannot possibly explain the entire "legend" in this review. I recommend doing an internet search for "The Mothman"... or... "Silver Bridge Disaster".
A quick summary as follows. In 1966, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a bridge spanning the Ohio River collapsed. Many people died when their cars plummeted into the Ohio River or the Ohio River banks. This is documented fact. The name of the bridge was Silver Bridge.
The events that happened PRIOR to the collapse of the bridge is where this event gets truly bizarre.
The story begins with journalist John Klein driving through the night to discover that he has blacked out and ended up hundreds of miles away from his intended destination. He ends up in Point Pleasant. The community of Point Pleasant is plagued with strange encounters from a giant winged humanoid, and the townspeople are have disturbing precognition of disasters. The people have nicknamed the creature THE MOTHMAN because of his wings and eyes.
Actual police reports were made concerning the strange sightings of The Mothman.
Most of the people who made the police reports met their doom on the Silver Bridge.
Was The Mothman some kind of messenger of death? Or was he trying to warn the people?
Draw your own conclusions.
There is a book titled "The Mothman Prophecies" which was written in the early seventies detailing the journalist's adventures in Point Pleasant. I recommend the book as well as an internet search to learn more about these bizarre events. There are also message boards on the internet where survivors of the bridge disaster and their relatives post messages to eachother. Happy Hunting!
I believe if you have some knowledge of the strange events known as The Mothman sightings, you may find this movie more entertaining. Particularly the events occurring in Point Pleasant. If you do not know the legend, you may be lost while viewing this film. Since I cannot possibly explain the entire "legend" in this review. I recommend doing an internet search for "The Mothman"... or... "Silver Bridge Disaster".
A quick summary as follows. In 1966, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a bridge spanning the Ohio River collapsed. Many people died when their cars plummeted into the Ohio River or the Ohio River banks. This is documented fact. The name of the bridge was Silver Bridge.
The events that happened PRIOR to the collapse of the bridge is where this event gets truly bizarre.
The story begins with journalist John Klein driving through the night to discover that he has blacked out and ended up hundreds of miles away from his intended destination. He ends up in Point Pleasant. The community of Point Pleasant is plagued with strange encounters from a giant winged humanoid, and the townspeople are have disturbing precognition of disasters. The people have nicknamed the creature THE MOTHMAN because of his wings and eyes.
Actual police reports were made concerning the strange sightings of The Mothman.
Most of the people who made the police reports met their doom on the Silver Bridge.
Was The Mothman some kind of messenger of death? Or was he trying to warn the people?
Draw your own conclusions.
There is a book titled "The Mothman Prophecies" which was written in the early seventies detailing the journalist's adventures in Point Pleasant. I recommend the book as well as an internet search to learn more about these bizarre events. There are also message boards on the internet where survivors of the bridge disaster and their relatives post messages to eachother. Happy Hunting!
I love it!!I have a comment to add to a_very_disturbing_horse's post. They mentioned the part and Richard Gere and Debra Messing in the closet at the house they were viewing, saying it had no part in the story. It does, if you notice, Debra Messing sees a moth flying overhead and it scares her.
The Mothman Prophecies (Special Edition)
Released in DVD by Columbia Tristar Hom (27 May, 2003)
Starring: Richard Gere and Laura Linney
Described by director Mark Pellington as "a psychological mystery with naturally surreal overtones," The Mothman Prophecies begins like an ambitious episode of The X-Files. Richard Gere brings adequate torment, portent, and ambiguity to his role as a Washington Post reporter and grieving widower plagued by a mysterious, unseen urban legend known as the Mothman. Pellington develops subtle doom and gloom that's as effective as the paranoid streak he brought to Arlington Road. As the Mothman terrifies a West Virginia town, he remains an enigma, glimpsed almost subliminally. This--along with a magnificently creepy soundtrack--amplifies the movie's surreal overtones while keeping everything else (unsettling phone calls, prophesied disasters, suggestions of the afterlife) completely unexplained. With Laura Linney and Debra Messing in underdeveloped roles, The Mothman Prophecies feels a bit underdeveloped itself (and ends in desperate need of Mulder and Scully). But if you like your weirdness open-ended, this moody thriller's worth a look. --Jeff Shannon
Average review score:
Well-Directed, Poorly CraftedThe case of the Mothman sightings in West Virginia have long been part of paranormal lore, especially due to John A. Keel's book on the events. "The Mothman Prophecies" alas, is a movie that wanders completely away from the original story and decides to update it in a puzzling, boring way. The original events, some consider them real others a hoax, took place in 1966, the movie updates the story to 2002 and adds it's own spin on things. This would be fine if the script had been crafted a little better, but instead it wanders around in circles. Plot points are never fully connected or even explained, and we never even get a good look at the Mothman which makes us wonder, why is it even called the MOTHMAN? The photography however, is really well-done and has a nice, mysterious look, like in the early X-Files episodes, but while the material is well-directed, it seems like a puzzle without solutions. At least the original book has it's own explanations, and no matter how out of this world they might seem, they are still explanations. In the film for example, Richard Gere's wife dies as a result from a car crash they were involved in soon after spotting the Mothman, and she begins to draw visions of the creature on paper, ok, interesting. But later in the film no connection is established between her death and the Mothman, in fact, nothing connects in this movie. What exactly are the Mothman Prophecies? The movie has been compared to The X-Files, but The X-Files has always had a continuing thread through-out it's plots and ideas, Mulder is always trying to prove that aliens exist and the government is trying to cover it up, but in "The Mothman Prophecies" all we get is a heartbroken widower who gets weird phone calls from a husky voice. Is it from the after-life? Is it an alien? For the rental or ticket price, we'd like to know. Read the book, skip the film.
Based On True EventsFirst, I would like to say I was impressed that Richard Gere volunteered to do this film, as offbeat and cult as it must have sounded on paper.
I believe if you have some knowledge of the strange events known as The Mothman sightings, you may find this movie more entertaining. Particularly the events occurring in Point Pleasant. If you do not know the legend, you may be lost while viewing this film. Since I cannot possibly explain the entire "legend" in this review. I recommend doing an internet search for "The Mothman"... or... "Silver Bridge Disaster".
A quick summary as follows. In 1966, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a bridge spanning the Ohio River collapsed. Many people died when their cars plummeted into the Ohio River or the Ohio River banks. This is documented fact. The name of the bridge was Silver Bridge.
The events that happened PRIOR to the collapse of the bridge is where this event gets truly bizarre.
The story begins with journalist John Klein driving through the night to discover that he has blacked out and ended up hundreds of miles away from his intended destination. He ends up in Point Pleasant. The community of Point Pleasant is plagued with strange encounters from a giant winged humanoid, and the townspeople are have disturbing precognition of disasters. The people have nicknamed the creature THE MOTHMAN because of his wings and eyes.
Actual police reports were made concerning the strange sightings of The Mothman.
Most of the people who made the police reports met their doom on the Silver Bridge.
Was The Mothman some kind of messenger of death? Or was he trying to warn the people?
Draw your own conclusions.
There is a book titled "The Mothman Prophecies" which was written in the early seventies detailing the journalist's adventures in Point Pleasant. I recommend the book as well as an internet search to learn more about these bizarre events. There are also message boards on the internet where survivors of the bridge disaster and their relatives post messages to eachother. Happy Hunting!
I believe if you have some knowledge of the strange events known as The Mothman sightings, you may find this movie more entertaining. Particularly the events occurring in Point Pleasant. If you do not know the legend, you may be lost while viewing this film. Since I cannot possibly explain the entire "legend" in this review. I recommend doing an internet search for "The Mothman"... or... "Silver Bridge Disaster".
A quick summary as follows. In 1966, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a bridge spanning the Ohio River collapsed. Many people died when their cars plummeted into the Ohio River or the Ohio River banks. This is documented fact. The name of the bridge was Silver Bridge.
The events that happened PRIOR to the collapse of the bridge is where this event gets truly bizarre.
The story begins with journalist John Klein driving through the night to discover that he has blacked out and ended up hundreds of miles away from his intended destination. He ends up in Point Pleasant. The community of Point Pleasant is plagued with strange encounters from a giant winged humanoid, and the townspeople are have disturbing precognition of disasters. The people have nicknamed the creature THE MOTHMAN because of his wings and eyes.
Actual police reports were made concerning the strange sightings of The Mothman.
Most of the people who made the police reports met their doom on the Silver Bridge.
Was The Mothman some kind of messenger of death? Or was he trying to warn the people?
Draw your own conclusions.
There is a book titled "The Mothman Prophecies" which was written in the early seventies detailing the journalist's adventures in Point Pleasant. I recommend the book as well as an internet search to learn more about these bizarre events. There are also message boards on the internet where survivors of the bridge disaster and their relatives post messages to eachother. Happy Hunting!
I love it!!I have a comment to add to a_very_disturbing_horse's post. They mentioned the part and Richard Gere and Debra Messing in the closet at the house they were viewing, saying it had no part in the story. It does, if you notice, Debra Messing sees a moth flying overhead and it scares her.