I don’t buy that many movies on DVD.
I’m at the theater most weekends, subscribe to three premium channels and DVR pretty much everything else.
But I did buy a VHS (remember those?) way back in 2003 after seeing a movie called “The Mothman Prophecies.“ Richard Gere plays a Washington Post reporter whose wife dies after seeing visions of a bizarre winged creature. Doctors say it was a brain tumor that caused the hallucination, but Gere unexpectedly finds himself in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where this “mothman” has been making a series of bizarre appearances.
The movie was supposedly based on a true incident in the city of Point Pleasant, and was creepy, creepy good…so good that I bought it. I still have it, too.
And just today I discovered that the Mothman Prophecies live on far beyond my VHS tape. The city of Point Pleasant has erected a 12-foot statue of the creature on Main Street, and began a Miss Mothman Pageant in 2008 to headline their already popular Mothman Festival.
If you decide to watch the movie, you may find it odd that the city is trying to profit off of what was an alarming tragedy. But with time comes perspective.
I guess Point Pleasant sees the “mothman” as their Titanic.
I can just see it: “The Road to Miss Mothman.”
Do they have an age limit, marriage restriction, wool requirements or picket lines? If not – ROAD TRIP!
I am SO there!
Growing up in Huntington, WV, only about 50 miles away from Point Pleasant, the Mothman looms large in my psyche. Mothman was there when the Silver Bridge collapsed into the Ohio River and killed 46 people trapped in rush-hour traffic. The question remains as to whether Mothman was there trying to warn people of the impending disaster or was he causing it! I think he’s a benevolent force. VHS, DVD? I’m holding out for the Blu-Ray release.
Yes, it’s clear you haven’t seen the movie! The mothman leads the reporter to the bridge. Rent it — it’s really good.
Was Julia Roberts in it?
No. But Debra Messing is from Will & Grace. Does that tempt you?
I did see the movie, but it didn’t dislodge any of the phantasmagoric Mothman notions that I grew up with. I could take or leave Debra Messing.
The actual book was nothing like the movie. Hollywood has a tendency to cut and paste all the things it likes about a story and scrap everything else. But in this case it was probably a goog idea because the part that got scrapped was rather kitsch. However, some writer in Hollywood must have done their research.John Keel and Gray Barker (the man who created MIB) were friends and shared their ideas frequently. The character of Gordon Smallwood only appears in Barker’s work.