Stars:
Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Patton, Debra Messing, Lucinda Jenny, and Alan
Bates
Writer:
Richard Hatem
Based
On The Book By: John A. Keel
Director:
Mark Pellington
Feature
length: 112 minutes
Languages:
English Stereo
Subtitles:
Chinese and Malay Subtitles
Packaging:
Jewel Case
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Screen Gems
Home
Video Distributor: Audio One Entertainment
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Adapted
from the 1975 novel by John A. Keel, which dramatized a 1967 tragedy that was
allegedly predicted by what might as well be a supernatural being, “The
Mothman Prophecies” claims to be based on a true story. I am not sure what the
Mothman is and I think if there is such a thing as the Mothman, he or it is
probably the only one who knows for sure. “The Mothman Prophecies” updates
the setting of the book to the present and I suspect it takes a few liberties
with the truth for dramatic effect, but for all I know it may be a lot closer to
the truth then some of these feature film biographies that have premiered in
theaters and on television over the last decade.
Richard
Gere plays journalist John Klein. Two years after the tragic death of his wife
in a car accident, Klein goes on a car trip to Richmond to cover a political
story and suddenly finds himself transported hundreds of miles away from his
destination without any memory of how he got to where he is. Stopping in a small
West Virginian town, Klein discovers that the townsfolk have been gripped with
fear and terrorized by frightening paranormal phenomena. At the center is the
Mothman, who goes by the name of Indrid Cold, an eight-foot tall, red eyed,
winged apparition whose appearance precedes widespread disaster and death.
Drawings and descriptions of this creature match drawings his wife drew before
her untimely death, which intensifies Klein’s anxiety. Soon Klein begins to
have visitations and even phone calls from the Mothman. He brings tapes of the
creature’s voice to a lab for verification and finds out that the rate and
frequency of the voice is too high for a human being to produce. Among other
side effects of the encounters include bleeding from the ears and even facial
burns.
Consulting
with a paranormal psychologist who encountered the creature, Klein learns that
the apparition of the Mothman can be traced throughout history and through
antiquity around the world and it has always been the harbinger of prophesized
disaster. Is the Mothman an angel, alien, demon, entity, who knows? The only
thing Klein learns is that these creatures have probably always existed
alongside humanity and that humans appear to have as much of an understanding
and ability to communicate with them as roaches do to humans. When Klein gets a
cryptic message of a disaster to come complete with apparitions of his dead
wife, he puts his career and sanity on the line to try and prevent it.
“The
Mothman Prophecies” is effective in creating a creepy sense of gloom and doom,
particularly through the score by Tomandandy. Those expecting a monster movie
will be disappointed. This is very much a psychological thriller and an
effective one at that. I cannot say if there is a Mothman, but I will say that
the film opened my mind up to the possibility, especially when one considers all
of the things that exist in this world that human beings cannot perceive
visually or even understand rationally, but never the less we know exist like
the light spectrum or dark matter in space.
The
DVD edition will not be available until mid June, but in Asia the film has been
legally released on VCD and distributed by Audio One Entertainment for Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment. The film is presented in a modified (1.33:1) aspect
ratio and is spread across two discs with approximately 56-minutes on each
Video-CD. The theatrical aspect ratio was (2.35:1). The film features a great
Compact Disc Quality digital English Stereo Soundtrack with Chinese and
Malaysian Subtitles burned in to the bottom of the screen. The picture quality
does reveal some compression artifacts inherent with MPEG-1 compression, but
overall I would liken the image quality as being comparable to extended play
NTSC VHS. So I am being very upfront when I say that this is no where near DVD
quality, but at a sales price of less than $8 dollars, it is not a bad deal for
those who missed it in the theaters and are curious. Call it an inexpensive
alternative or preview. Overall, I am glad I got to see and review it because
now I definitely am interested in getting the DVD version and reviewing it when
it comes out.
This
is a PAL format VCD so consumers with DVD-Video players that are backwardly
compatible with Video-CDs should check with the manufacturer to see if their
player can playback PAL VCDs. Most can, but if you don’t know it doesn’t
hurt to check. The VCD will work in all computers with DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives
as well.
“The
Mothman Prophecies” is available on VCD now and can be ordered directly online
from Eurekamovies.com.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.