Reading just plain RUINS movies! Way back in 1975, John A. Keel first published his front line, journalistic documentation of the mondo bizarro happenings in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1967. It’s a virtual Who’s Who of ufology, cryptozoology and maybe even government mind control, but at center stage were the pervasive sightings of a six-foot flying critter with glowing red eyes dubbed the Moth-Man. Unfortunately, in the adaptation of The Mothman Prophecies (2001, 119 minutes), Hollywood whittles out the UFO sightings, mysterious men in black and other strangeness that’d make Fox Mulder squeal with glee in favor of creating a groan-inducing backstory for Richard Gere.
The movie: It takes a full 20 MINUTES to wade through the hackneyed "tragedy" of John Klein (Gere) losing his wife (Debra Messing) after a near fatal car crash uncovers something more dire. A year later, the hot shot Washington Post reporter remains haunted by the odd circumstances surrounding her eventual death. Late one night he hauls hiney down the highway headed nowhere, just clearing his mind, when his car suddenly stalls along a back road. When he approaches a nearby house for assistance, he’s accosted by Gordon Smallwood (Will Patton) who waves a shotgun in his face, ranting about how KLEIN keeps showing up in the wee hours of the night. It’s only when the law (Laura Linney as Connie Mills) arrives that Klein can peaceably escape this maniac. Once grasping where he is, John realizes he can’t account for the distance he traveled in such a short time. Mills then confides that "a lot of strange things" have been going on and thus begins Keel, er, Klein’s increasingly unusual investigation. His interviews lead him back to Smallwood who tells John about a creepy, prophetic voice emanating from his bathroom sink. Also, young lovers sheepishly confess their parked car was attacked by a shrieking beast with wings. And late at night, Klein’s plagued by an otherworldly caller named Indrid Cold who makes cryptic predictions of an impending disaster. Director Mark Pellington adeptly milks the flick’s genuine chills without resorting to spook house tactics. If only there were more! CineSchlockers interested in ogling Ms. Linney out of that silly police cap can see her pose nekkid for a painter with @#%$ing Tourette’s Syndrome in Maze.
Notables: No breasts. 39 corpses. Excessive whisper talking. Backseat canoodling. Paranormal prank calls. Diddling in a closet. Sleep driving. Gratuitous dingy motel room. Caroling.
Quotables: Law-gal Mills is no hick, "Shucks, no! [I grew up] in a real live house. Indoor plumbing and everything. We even had shoes for church and schooling and such." Alan Bates sums up why denizens of the paranormal don’t just introduce themselves on CNN, "You’re more advanced than a cockroach. Have you ever tried to explain yourself to one of them?"
Time codes: Freeze-frame for the Mothman — hundreds of miles from its haunt (7:28). Weirdness officially begins (20:35). Telephone call from the mysterious Indrid Cold (54:40). Mr. Gere emotes (1:36:28).
Final thought: Everything after the trite and tedious first reel proves they might of had something more memorable with less Gere and more paraweirdness.