Review of The Mothman Prophecies (2002) by Travis P — 03 Jul 2012

I always receive odd looks when I tell people that the scariest movie to me is 'The Mothman Prophecies.' Yet, it's the truth.

Instead of a monster, or a killer, or some visible ghost, this film is about an odd legend that is depicted in this creepy, subtle tone. This is one of the few films that carries the 'Inspired by True Events' title and actually does it well. With most movies, they take a good legend and blow it waaay out of proportion. This isn't done here...in fact, one could argue that they actually tone it down.

The film is creepy to me because the creature is unknown. We never see it, but we hear it's creepy voice.

The use of colour is well-done. Throughout every day, it is cloudy and the frame just seems to me stripped of its colour. Yet, whenever any sort of encounter with the mothman occurs, we see these brilliant oranges and reds. Also, the well-placed screeching sounds just get me every time. There are also these cleverly-placed subtle scares...some of which I never noticed until after multiple viewings.

This film is hated by most people that I know and I guess I can see why. We don't see a monster or a ghost. We never find out what exactly the mothman is. And we never see some titties, which (as we all know) are important for horror films.

However, this film manages to get under my skin every time I watch it. When it comes to all of the horror/thriller films I've seen, that says a lot.