Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Steineded How sad is this?

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

NateWatchesCoolMovies Mark Pellington's The Mothman Prophecies takes a harrowing look at a curious set of events that did indeed occur for real in the rural West Virginia area. Now, just how much of what we see in the film actually happened is eternally unclear, but I've read up on a lot of it and there's enough testimonials, independent of each other, to both justify the film and shiver your spine. A myriad of inexplicable phenomenon plagued those poor people for some time back then, including visions, eerie phone calls and a mysterious red eyed creature in the shape of a giant moth. Businessman Richard Gere and wife Debra Messing come face to face with what appears to be this entity one night on a lonely stretch of highway, causing a grisly car crash and leaving Messing in a dire psychological state. With the help of a local policewoman (Laura Linney), Gere unwisely tries to figure out this terrifying mystery by putting himself way closer to the occurrences than I would ever go, experiencing the stuff of nightmares along the way. Pellington comes from a music video background and as such he is incredibly adept at creating style and atmosphere (his opening credits for Arlington Road are almost as foreboding as anything in this film), two key elements in successfully telling a tale such as this. Gere wanders around in a daze most of the time, distraught over his wife's condition and obviously influenced by forces unknown. Whatever is out there remains blessedly unseen save for a few hurried glimpses, say, behind a tree or at a kitchen window momentarily, spurring heart attacks from both audience and the poor sods stuck in this brooding bad dream. Rounding out the cast is Alan Bates as the obligatory historian who has seen this all unfold previously in some far corner of the world, and an excellent Will Patton in a frightening turn as a rural farmer who comes who becomes tragically influenced these dark forces. No one plays disturbed quite like him, a jittery, resolute calm always playing around in his eyes, the perfect presence to set anyone on edge. The finale sort of emerges from the chrysalis of dark atmospherics into large scale disaster mode, a choice which didn't really work for me. I would have preferred to have it kept intimate and creepy right up until some kind of moody end, but they went with fireworks instead. Not enough to hurt the film of negate what came before though, it's just too good of a time in the haunted house to be dragged down by anything, really. Chilling stuff.

Leofwine_draca Here's a flawed but effective and mildly horrific horror yarn that takes the modern subtle approach to horror rather than filling the screen with in-your-face blood and guts. Therefore it's all the better for it, chilling the viewer with brief shock appearances of a mysterious creature, bizarre and disturbing phone calls in the middle of the night, and all sorts of supernatural shenanigans occurring which our characters cannot explain. The film is well-made in all aspects with camera-work that only occasionally veers into flashy pretentiousness. That we never really see the creature behind the chaos is one of the film's strongest aspects, it keeps you in the dark and therefore never fails to send a slight chill down your spine. Some JEEPERS CREEPERS-style rubbery monster just wouldn't have had the same impact and would have detracted from the movie's realism, which is of course the reason it remains frightening, because it feels true. The movie is horrific throughout and has a number of scary moments which thankfully don't take the form of a sudden loud noise to shock you as in WHAT LIES BENEATH. Instead the shadowy, barely-lit sets, the forbidding and chilly town in which the film is set, and the wealth of odd inexplicable events which occur are designed to throw you off balance. Literally you don't know what to expect and that's where the fun lies.The flaws lies in the film's script and plotting which tends to be all over the place at times. This is a mood-focused rather than plot-orientated movie so some moments do tend to drag a little, especially in the second half, giving an episodic feel to the production which works against it and sent some viewers in my cinema off to sleep! Thankfully things work out for a tense set-piece finale which is one of the most suspenseful I've seen in quite some time and literally had me on the edge of my cinema seat. Once Alan Bates' character is introduced to explain the plot a fine sense of foreboding and impending doom is worked up which nicely carries the film throughout and retained my interest. Although the movie does well not to lay explanations for everything out on a plate at the end, pandering to the dumbest viewer, some of what happens is too confusing and needs clarifying a little further.Another strong highlight is the cast of seasoned performers who acquit themselves well with the various roles. These guys have us caring for the people involved and keep us watching. First of all we have Richard Gere, well cast as the Washington Post reporter whose inner sadness comes from the tragic death of his wife, which occurs in the first fifteen minutes of the movie and lets us know that we're in for a heavy journey. Gere is charismatic and darned likable - more than I've ever seen him before actually - as the slightly neurotic Mulder-style investigator and his pivotal role makes the film for me. Excellent support comes from Laura Linney as the warm-hearted town sheriff and especially Will Patton, who excels here as the town oddball who becomes the focus of the town's manifestations. Finally, Alan Bates is on hand to lend some gravitas as a slightly kooky professor who knows more about the events than he initially lets on; although it's an easy part to play, Bates has fun with it and that wears off. Despite being flawed and somewhat unsatisfying (hard to put my finger on what exactly was wrong with it, other than I was left feeling a little disappointed in what had not happened, that somehow we had been led down the garden path), THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES is a step ahead of most modern teen slasher fare and deserves kudos for its old-fashioned approach to the horror genre. It may be clichéd and a little predictable but the cast keeps you engaged throughout and I was never less than interested in what was happening.

Yasmin L This is a tough one. I personally found the story really intriguing and even though it did not go in the expected direction, I really enjoyed the story, which was original and smart and interesting.Still, the film lost me. The shorts were badly dine, the cuts strange, there were"special effects" (the colour changed from time to time), and that all made it impossible to watch.who would show an intriguing scene from the monster's perspective? i most certainly would not, and they should not have done it here, repeatedly.It was sad to see how a brilliant script can be turned into an unwatchable film.So even though I would love to give this one a 10 - a 4 seems fair to me. I really hope that they will do a remake, for I believe that this could be one of the big horror films, if it only were done differently.

Bee Zee I was so excited to see this coming on TV. Good TV, no commercials, no cutting, the full movie. Actually had famous people in it. Had great viewer reviews. Woohoo!!After one hour I was so bored, I thought something has to happen any minute now. 30 more minutes, nothing. 20 more minutes, nothing. Whoever said this was good, scary, horror, thriller, interesting, entertaining, worth the watch for any reason at all -- sure doesn't expect much from a movie. It was sooo boring, a nap in an ant hill would have been less painful and more interesting. Even in the middle of the night, by yourself, out in the woods in a tent with spooky bloody snarly howling all around you, the hook hanging from your car door handle is a better story than this stupid movie. Don't waste you time.