Plot
A man driven to extremes to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his wife’s death and how they may be connected to the strange phenomena occurring in a town four hundred miles away.
Analysis
Whenever I see a film that claims to be based on true events I immediately become interested. Especially when the true events are meant to be otherworldly, be it aliens, ghosts or another of life’s little mysteries. However, this was one of those films that I never made an effort to see, I didn’t go to the cinema, didn’t rent the DVD, I just happened to catch this one on TV when I had nothing else to do (although Vaughan will tell you that all my spare time should be used up writing these things). And I’m glad that I made the effort to sit on my arse and do nothing for 2 hours.
The film is centred on a journalist, John Klein, and starts with him and his wife (Mary) buying their dream house. All is going swimmingly until they drive away. Mary, and only Mary, sees a winged figure flying toward the car, and rather than trying to run the little blighter down, she swerves to avoid it, and then their lives take a turn for the worse. Crash. Hospital. Death. He survives with little more than a headache, but (as I hope you’ve all figured out) she does not. (Normally I would not reveal a plot point of the film in one of my reviews but as this happens right at the beginning, and is an integral point to the rest of the film, I would have had trouble continuing the review without mentioning it, so don’t complain, just live with it, (unlike Mrs Klein)). Just before her untimely demise she decides to go all Edvard Munch and starts to draw pictures of a scary winged figure – a sort of ‘bat-man’, or ‘bird-man’, if you will.
Two years later…. After going out for a drive, and breaking down somewhere near the arse end of nowhere, John finds himself in the small town of Point Pleasant. The first thing that gets him scratching the old grey matter is that he has no idea how he got there as he believed that he had been driving in a completely different direction (I’ll have to remember that one if I want a day off work). This is when things start to get stranger and stranger. After becoming intimate with the business end of someone’s double barrelled boomstick, he gets to meet the local sheriff and finds out that bizarre events have been occurring in the community for a while. People have been seeing strange lights, hearing strange sounds and basically having the willies scared out of them. John then starts serious investigation after he sees another drawing, just like the one his wife created just before she popped her clogs. Whilst he is trying to convince himself that the strange things that are happening to him are real, other people in the town are reporting more and more odd happenings. Without giving too much away, he discovers that the emergence of the Mothman is a sign - of what I won’t say, but the rest of the film is about John trying to figure this out as well as why he started to see his wife again.
Whilst this wasn’t the greatest film of the year, or even the best film of it’s type, I would have to say that I enjoyed it. It doesn’t beak any new ground or add anything new to the genre but it is enjoyable to watch and should go some way to satisfying your supernatural needs.
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Rating (out of 5)
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Action
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Not very much, but not completely devoid – wait for the end (although don’t get too excited)
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Tension
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A bit like the action score. Can be found, more tension than thrills.
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Violence/
Gore
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Very little.
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Bare Flesh
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None
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less flesh on view than at the local convent. In winter.
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Plot
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As this was based on true events I have no idea which plot points are based in fact and which have been created or embellished for the film. However, I enjoyed the story, and I would hope that the reality of the situation hadn’t been tainted too much.
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Verdict
Some films you watch just to get to the end so that you can write your review. Others get you so engrossed that you forget the 3F’s (family, friends and food) and seem to finish far too quickly. This one, whilst not sitting completely in the middle should get you quite hooked. I liked the plot and I thought that Richard Gere pulled off the roll of the ‘man who may be losing his marbles’ very well.
If you are after a nail bitter of a thriller, or a hide-behind-the-pillow horror, then I would suggest that you watch something else. But if you are after an easy to watch, not too complicated, based on real life, scary if it’s real film then give this one a go.
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Facts, figures and boobs
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1.
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The film is based on actual events that occurred between November 1966 and December 1967 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
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The clock radio in John Klein's motel room reads: 6:14. It's a biblical reference to John Chapter 6 verse 14, which reads, 'This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.'
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3.
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The Mothman is hidden at various points in the movie for only a couple frames, including the wire on the bridge and in the reflection of the mirror on the door Richard Gere slams.
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4.
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When John pulls over after seeing Gordon on the bridge, he gets out of the car - his emergency lights (blinkers) are not on. Later, from another angle, they are on.
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Movie Pictures
(Click picture to enlarge)
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