The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Director: Mark Pellington

Writers: Richard Hatem, John A. Keel

Composer: tomandandy

Starring: Richard Gere, Debra Messing, Will Patton, Laura Linney, Alan Bates

More info: IMDb

Tagline: What do you see?

Plot: A reporter is drawn to a small West Virginia town to investigate a series of strange events, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.

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My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I hadn't seen this movie in ages.  I liked it then and I was curious how it would hold up.  It's really good.  It's a well-structured thriller with some fine performances.  What really worked for me is the score by tomandandy (Tom Hajdu and Andy Milburn).  It's usually just beneath the surface like a droning hum but it works so well in adding to the sense of mystery, unknown and fear.  The bridge sequence at the end is very well crafted, from the direction, editing and the special effects team.  It's a great set piece and a nice one to close out the film as the climax.  I read a little about the 'true events' and this film is clearly a case of the movie being far more interesting than what supposedly happened.  It boils down to a group of grave diggers seeing what they described as a man-sized bird fly over them.  After that incident was reported there were a few more sightings (hmmmmm) of this mysterious creature.  That was November 1966 in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia.   In December the following year the Silver Bridge collapsed killing 46 people.  After that no one saw the Mothman and folks somehow made the connection between that incident and the bug dude.  The  Columbia DVD has only two extras; a tomandandy music video, "Half Light" (directed by Pellington), and the theatrical trailer.   A commentary would be nice.  I met Pellington last year and he's a delightful man who's engaging to talk to.  I'm sure any track he laid down for his films is interesting as shit.