Moral Assessment + Abhorrent + + Disturbing + + + Acceptable + + + + Wholesome + + + + + Exemplary Technical Assessment • Poor • • Below average • • • Average • • • • Above average • • • • • Excellent CINEMA Rating Guide VA For viewers of all ages V13 For viewers age 13 and below with parental guidance V14 For viewers 14 and above V18 For mature viewers 18 and above NP Not for public viewing

Title: THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES Running Time:  119 min Lead Cast: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Paton, Debra Messing, Shane Callahan Director:  Mark Pellington Producer:  Harlop Borvert Screenwriter:  Richard Hatem Music: Forman Duby Editor:  John A. Keel Genre: Drama-Mystery Cinematography:  Distributor: Screen Gems Location:  Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA Technical Assessment:  • • • Moral Assessment:  + + + CINEMA Rating:   For viewers 14 and above   The Mothman Prophecies is said to be based on a true story pointing to a belief in Point Pleasant (West Virginia, USA) in the existence of a mothlike creature with red eyes occasionally spotted in the area.  The book about Mothman written by John A. Keel is now this movie, where the apparently blissful marriage of Washington Reporter John Klein (Richard Gere) and Mary (Debra Messing) tragically ends in a car crash when Mary, driving, saw a huge mothlike creature splattered against the windshield. The accident results in Mary's death, after which they discover her drawings of the creature among her notebooks. Mary's death drives John into a twilight zone where he and local cop Sgt. Connie Parker (Laura Linney) get enmeshed in a series of discoveries involving weird and screeching phone calls, ominous visitations and cryptic, prophetic messages. Director Mark Pellington shows his mastery in mood establishment with eerie camera pans, contrasting quick flashes of light and somber skies, rundown structures and leafless winter trees. Combined with the feverish pace of the movie, and a musical score that startles and scares when it should, The Mothman Prophecies becomes unrelenting in giving you the feeling of breath on the back of your neck, even if the Mothman himself never really gets to be more threatening than an ordinary windshield bug. Gere is superb as the bewildered John Klein, and the good chemistry he has with the lead actors generates much of the terror in this thriller. The mystery of the Mothman is never explained, and the creature itself is only vaguely glimpsed—is this a deliberate attempt by Director Pellington to shift the viewer's focus to the possibility that all those paranormal phenomena are actually caused by the force of the human mind?  Far from being a run-of-the-mill horror flick where skeletons drop from the ceiling and Frankenstein imitations spring up from mud puddles, The Mothman Prophecies is a suspense-horror film for thinking adults and could be a good jump-off point for family discussions or church and classroom instruction on the power of fear, thought and suggestion, and the superior force that is the will and faith.   (Date reviewed: February 22, 2002)