THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS
Following the death of his wife in a mysterious traffic accident, a successful journalist (Richard Gere) becomes drawn to the small town of Point Pleasant in West Virginia where sightings of a weird moth-like creature foretell a devastating tragedy...
Based on true events which occurred on the Ohio River in 1967, Mark Pellington's portentous drama follows Gere's big-city reporter through a series of strange events in small-town America (eg. his 'first' encounter with farmer Will Patton, his 'telephone conversation' with the Mothman, etc.). Apparently, neither Gere or Pellington were interested in making a conventional 'monster movie', opting instead for a series of bizarre plot twists and sudden shocks, linked to various glimpses of the title creature in a number of clever disguises.
Scripted by Richard Hatem (UNDER SIEGE 2) from John A. Keel's non-fiction book (an overview of the entire Mothman phenomenon to date), the film sports a welcome cameo from acting heavyweight Alan Bates as a grizzled professor whose personal encounters with the eponymous Mothman have reduced him to a shadow of his former self, though the narrative loses some of its dramatic momentum around the halfway mark, and the fiery climax barely resonates on an emotional level, perhaps because the characters are mere stick figures, subservient to the unfolding mystery. For all its drawbacks, however, THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES - clearly inspired by the popular success of like-minded chillers THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) and THE SIXTH SENSE (1999) - is mature, intelligent, and often deeply unsettling, and both Laura Linney (TV's "Tales of the City") and Debra Messing ("Will & Grace") are excellent in crucial supporting roles. Good title, too.
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS
Following the death of his wife in a mysterious traffic accident, a successful journalist (Richard Gere) becomes drawn to the small town of Point Pleasant in West Virginia where sightings of a weird moth-like creature foretell a devastating tragedy...
Based on true events which occurred on the Ohio River in 1967, Mark Pellington's portentous drama follows Gere's big-city reporter through a series of strange events in small-town America (eg. his 'first' encounter with farmer Will Patton, his 'telephone conversation' with the Mothman, etc.). Apparently, neither Gere or Pellington were interested in making a conventional 'monster movie', opting instead for a series of bizarre plot twists and sudden shocks, linked to various glimpses of the title creature in a number of clever disguises.
Scripted by Richard Hatem (UNDER SIEGE 2) from John A. Keel's non-fiction book (an overview of the entire Mothman phenomenon to date), the film sports a welcome cameo from acting heavyweight Alan Bates as a grizzled professor whose personal encounters with the eponymous Mothman have reduced him to a shadow of his former self, though the narrative loses some of its dramatic momentum around the halfway mark, and the fiery climax barely resonates on an emotional level, perhaps because the characters are mere stick figures, subservient to the unfolding mystery. For all its drawbacks, however, THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES - clearly inspired by the popular success of like-minded chillers THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) and THE SIXTH SENSE (1999) - is mature, intelligent, and often deeply unsettling, and both Laura Linney (TV's "Tales of the City") and Debra Messing ("Will & Grace") are excellent in crucial supporting roles. Good title, too.