Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I must say that I am pleased that I waited until this movie came out on video before I got to see it. I would have missed a lot of points otherwise. My first advice would be to learn something about the Mothman before seeing this movie. You don't have to, but it does help to know the history behind this.

You know how they always say that the story is the same the names and places have been changed. Well, it's kind of like that with this movie. The events depicted did happen, but not in the exact way the movie puts them in. Get my meaning? OK. Think about it then.

The movie opens with Mr. and Mrs. Klein buying what is to be their dream home. It's a huge Victorian style mansion that is really too big for two people, but they love it anyway. The realtor keeps trying to convince them to buy it. When they are set out on their own to look things over, the realtor comes looking for them. He finds them in a comprimising position in the master bedroom closet. They claim they are trying to see if the closet is big enough, but we know better, don't we?:--) This is to show how blissful the couple is and how much they love "doing it" in the closet.

On the drive away from the house, the couple is goofing around as the wife drives and suddenly a big winged creature swoops over the car. His eyes are red. He is totally black and his wing span is every bit of 10 feet. If he stood on the ground he would have reached 8 feet in heighth. She swerves the car to miss the creature and as she does her head smashes into the driver's side window. The thing about this is, John didn't see the creature. At the hospital they find out she has a rare brain tumor that is not caused by the crash and she dies just days later. While John is in her hospital room an orderly suddenly appears and tells him she was drawing angels. John looks through his wife's notebook and sees some images that look like angels, but others are of dark faces and figures that look almost demonic. Whether or not the orderly was real is up to the viewer. If John had turned to look at the door way sooner I would have believed he wasn't real, but through the movie it gives you the feeling that he wasn't real. Later on John inspects the car that he and his wife were in and finds there is a V shaped burn in the car's grill.

Distraught, John Klein (Gere) decides he will take a trip down to Richmond, Virginia and by some weird circumstance winds up in Point Pleasant, WEST Virginia. He has gone over 400 miles in less that an hour and a half. His car suddenly dies. His watch dies. AND his cell phone dies. (No mystery there. Cell phones die all the time especially when you want to use them.) He gets out of his car and decides to walk to get help. Over his shoulder you see this flash of light in the sky. He walks a little more and looks down at his feet. He has elevated about a foot off the pavement. It doesn't seem to bother him, though, as all he does is look back at his car. That was one part I would have missed if not for good old DVD's.

He comes upon this house and when he gets someone to come to the door, the guy claims that John has been there two other nights wanting to use the phone. They get into a big fight and the sheriff arrives. This begins John's big trek to find out just how and why he got there and in a place he doesn't even know.

Mothman is based on events that occurred in Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia in the '60's. Roughly 1965-67. Other reports in other parts of the world have described similar events, but this West Virginia town claims to be the home of the creature. Many theories have came about as to the Mothman's origin. He is said to be an alien, an angel, a ghost, a demon, or a simple man. I even heard someone joke and say that he was an alien fugitive and the MIBS were after him. This came from the fact that MIB reports were rampant during the time of the Mothman sightings.

The movie suggests all of these theories in one way or another. Some of the facts are he did predict certain disasters such as the bridge collapsing and killing 36 people. His predictions seemed to be all bleek for some reason. He just couldn't predict happy stuff.

Whether or not he was any of those things I mentioned above or just a simple form of mass histeria is up to the individual.

The guy that John Klein met at the farm house at the beginning of the movie becomes friends with this mothman and they talk to one another. This guy, Gordon, claims that the Mothman says that he will come to a new understanding and will have great bliss. Gordon even has John talk to the Mothman to prove he exists. The Mothman tells Gordon a prediction about Denver 9 and 99. Later on the news it is reported that Denver flight 9 crashed and 99 people were killed. Later we find Gordon near a tree in the woods froze to death. I guess he found his bliss.

The Mothman Prophecies is more of a mystery than a thriller. It gives you clues as to the Mothman's identity, but the ultimate decision on who or what he really was and is remains in the hands of the viewer. It has to be. After all the Mothman mystery is still a mystery today. It has never been solved.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older