The Mothman Prophecies

The Dude · Post by **The Dude** » 2003-05-26 03:45pm

Well, the missus and I hunker down to watch the Mothman Prophecies - and it was a decent supernatural thriller. I was intrigued by the film's explicit claim to be a true story, and the seemingly fascinating tale of a talented and skeptical Washington Post writer who became convinced that his wife's death and a number of other bizarre occurrences were caused by some sort of foreign entity or entities.

So, off to the internet I go! Surely such a compelling story of tragedy and madness must be extensively documented, both at the Washington Post and elsewhere.

Much to my chagrin, I find out that this writer never existed, nor did any other character portrayed in the film.

Furthermore, the film is set in the 90's or 00's and features contact between the reporter and his supernatural tormentor(s), including cell-phone and answering machine messages that are eventually analyzed by a sound lab! Eureka! Hard scientific evidence of the supernatural!

Oh wait - the "real events" (like the bridge collapse and "Mothman" sightings) actually occurred in the 60's, well before cell-phones or answering machines were used by the public.

Oh wait - the "Mothman" was identified by a local zoologist as a huge migratory crane (the town has a migratory bird sanctuary!).

Oh wait - the character of the Washington Post reporter is based on a crackpot "UFO Expert" - I guess the fictional "respected reporter whose wife is diagnosed with a moth-shaped brain tumour after getting into an accident in which she is distracted by a vision of a red moth-like creature and a moth-shape is magically burned into their car" is more compelling than the real "nutjob conspiracy and UFO theorist who shows up in small town and capitalizes on discredited local legend"

I went on to find an amusing and concise summation of all this nonsense in an Internet magazine call the North Texas Skeptic: http://ntskeptics.org/2002/2002august/a ... 02.htm#dvd

Clearly, the filmakers have engaged in blatant deception regarding the existence of credible evidence of the paranormal. Historical epics and biopics (hell, even some "documentaries") reguarly engage in revisionism, character amalgamation and dramatic hyperbole, but IMO this really takes the cake. Every character and every event (save one - and its timing is off by 30-odd years) in the film are completely fictional.

It makes me want to fucking puke.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2003-05-26 04:19pm

Well, let this be a lesson.

When Huge Migratory Cranes attack you, call the X-files.

FYI, you destroyed my hopes and dreams by showing it to be a crane.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-05-26 04:36pm

Have you ever noticed that when anything supernatural in that movie happens, Richard Gere's Audi is nearby? Coincidence? I think not!

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2003-05-26 04:56pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Have you ever noticed that when anything supernatural in that movie happens, Richard Gere's Audi is nearby? Coincidence? I think not!

Christi, anyone?

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-05-26 05:32pm

Let this be a lesson to you:

Movies "based on a true/real story" hardly ever are.

DarthBlight · Post by **DarthBlight** » 2003-05-26 08:29pm

Let this be a lesson to you:

Movies "based on a true/real story" hardly ever are.

I think I learned that back in oh . . . "The Blair Witch Project."

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-05-26 09:56pm

I'm sorry but Delta Green has been alerted to your activities...

Enricko · Post by **Enricko** » 2003-05-26 10:38pm

weemadando wrote:I'm sorry but Delta Green has been alerted to your activities...

"Thank you for calling your local Delta Green Office, your call is important to us, please hold the line... Sorry, all our agents are presently fighting some Mi-Go trying to summon Ithaqua... Please hold the line to keep your priority..."

---

You know, at the beginning of each episode of Psi-Factor, they used to say that the stories were inspired from the actual case files of the OSIR... yeah, I know: bullshit.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-05-27 06:17am

DarthBlight wrote:
Let this be a lesson to you:

Movies "based on a true/real story" hardly ever are.
I think I learned that back in oh . . . "The Blair Witch Project."

No, we learned it far earlier - we learned it when this movie first was seen.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-05-27 10:39am

Gil Hamilton wrote:Have you ever noticed that when anything supernatural in that movie happens, Richard Gere's Audi is nearby? Coincidence? I think not!

You and your damn Audi theory.

What model is it anyway? The 80 was always having weird things happen to it when we had one, we named it "Ecto 2" (the previous car was a white Vauxhall Cavaliar nicknamed Ecto 1 as in from the Ghostbusters).

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-05-27 03:05pm

I've read the novel "MothMan Prophecies", and I've been to the site of the Silver Bridge, Point Pleasant, WV.

The movie pissed me off royally. If they were going to make it, why not make it WHEN it happened, in 1958-60? Hell, most of Point Pleasant hasn't changed since that time! (Note: the town scenes were filmed in Point Pleasant itself)

As for the skeptics: Well... since several of those that saw the Mothman or had other visitations went down with the Bridge, no one can really say, now can they? However, read the book, and see what you think. It is a chronicle of what happened, even if it was exaggerated, and there were *DOZENS* of things in the book that was left out in the movie.

From 1955-1960, there was a rash of UFO sightings throughout the Appalachian region, centered on the Ohio River Valley. MothMan was only one of two 'creatures' seen during that time: The Flatwood/Braxton County Monster was the other. Strange lights would dance over hilltops of nights, and strange multilations of dogs, cats, and farm animals were reported.

Sound Familiar? There was another rash like this in the SouthWest in the 1980s... which coincided with more UFO sightings in WV, without monsters this time. Not even a grey.

Oh, LoneStar? The Crane/Large Bird theory was suggested when the MothMan furor first started, but discarded/overruled by those that had seen the creature and said the eyes glowed in the dark. While cranes can be large, 3-4 ft tall, and the males have large red patches above their eyes, I don't know if they'd glow with or without a light shining on them. It also doesn't explain why the wings were labeled "mothlike" when a bird's wings are anything but.. or why the Mothman was said to take straight up off the ground, without flapping, and fly without flapping.

Google Searches on "WV" and "UFOs" and/or "Monsters" can give a list of sites that either supports or refutes the topic... mostly supporting, since Appalachian psyche is a spiritual one, eager to believe in 'ghosts and ghoulies, an' things that go bump in th' nights'.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-05-29 08:07pm

I would say the oldest "Based on a True Story" films would be "Exorcist" and "Amityville Horror"

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-05-29 08:08pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:I would say the oldest "Based on a True Story" films would be "Exorcist" and "Amityville Horror"

At least they were handled better than the Mothman movie, Bear.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-05-29 10:01pm

True, at least they stayied in period....

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-05-30 03:34am

I wonder what "The Mothman Prophecies" would be like if it was written by H.P. Lovecraft...

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-05-30 05:48am

Simon H.Johansen wrote:I wonder what "The Mothman Prophecies" would be like if it was written by H.P. Lovecraft...

Something that ate people for breakfast or was once human, knowing him...

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-05-30 05:55am

EmperorMing wrote:
Simon H.Johansen wrote:I wonder what "The Mothman Prophecies" would be like if it was written by H.P. Lovecraft...
Something that ate people for breakfast or was once human, knowing him...

Yeah, and the story would probably be set in Massachusetts.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-05-30 04:36pm

The Yosemite Bear wrote:True, at least they stayied in period....

In period? Bear, you have no idea how Backwards the Ohio Valley was in 1950, do you. There were places only 5 miles from town with no electricity or running water.

Death from the Sea · Post by **Death from the Sea** » 2003-05-30 06:01pm

any movie "base on a true story" or "based on actual events" is rarely ever going to be just like it was in real life. First of all the real events are probably not quite interesting enough to make a good movie with out altering the facts somewhat, Secondly I see no difference in the "Mothman Prophecies" case where the period makes a difference in how the story was told be it 1950 or 2000 the movie was still creepy. Rarely does the period in which the story is told affect the movie.

There were some facts from the exorcist in which were altered between real life and the movie. In real life it was a Missouri Synod Lutheran(I believe a catholic girl was portrayed in the movie) child and IIRC it was a boy not a girl so saying the Exorcist was a more accurate protrayal than the Mothman is not really true.