User reviews

The film has a brief moment of promise, introducing a fair premise. Some teens accidentally cause a child's death, and conspire to cover up their dark secret. These guys live in Point Pleasant, WV, home of you-know-who. So the monster will dole out punishment?

The wheels come off quickly. Fast forward several years. A big city reporter, one of the teens visits town, and she is immediately invited to toast the kid she once helped kill (a reunion of all the killers). What? Toast somebody you killed? No comment is possible for such a ludicrous plot device. So let's just pretend the movie didn't do this, and move on.

Enter the stock village idiot. This was the best character, and decently acted (cliches and all). It was cool to listen to his insane ramblings explaining the creature's motives, its weird red eyes, its obsession with mirrors, and his own back story. Best of all was his habit of often firing a shot gun, especially since this guy was blind.

Pop quiz: when learning your presence in a town is causing the deaths, does she: A) Leave town, or B) Stay and fight? Take a wild guess. Using guns. Always works against legendary monsters, right?

But the last 20 minutes are beyond moronic. It's as if the original running time was too short, so a lame "twist" was hastily inserted to explain the profoundly stupid new ending they tacked on. A new director was found at the local pre-school playground, to shot the extra footage. "We thought you were dead!" "Yeah, so did I." Who wrote this, and have they been committed yet?

The Mothman already has more than a few skeptics on whether it exists or not. This movie won't help his status much.

'Mothman' was yet another miserable 'original' film that SyFy decided to torture viewers with. Who at the SyFy Network is drinking the wrong Kool-Aid? They need to hire knowledgeable and intelligent decision makers when it comes to their line-up and production processes. The only thing redeemable about 'Mothman' is that the acting is above average for SyFy original features. The cast did a pretty good job with such a crazy, undeveloped storyline and script. The special effects were really pitiful - worse than the old dinosaur flicks from the 50's and 60's. With today's technology, someone with creativity and skill could have created much better effects with home computer equipment. I believe that any movie worth making is worth making right - as right as possible anyway. This starts with the writers of course. A solid plot, storyline and dialog really are the most important - special effects can enhance or destroy a film as well. Continuity is a major element in both, in order to eliminate possible holes and aid in believability. I guess the production company didn't have anyone who could provide continuity for the script or work-flow during filming and editing. Oh well. And why the heck did 'SciFi' change their name to 'SyFy'? Ridiculous!

In Point Pleasant, land of the legend The Mothman, a group of seven teenage friends accidentally kills the boy Jamie (Alex Hardee) in a prank by the river and they decide to cover up the incident simulating an accident.

Ten years later, the journalist of the Washington Weekly Katharine Grant (Jewel Staite), who was one of the seven teenagers that murdered Jamie, is assigned by her editor to return to her hometown to prepare a matter about the 10th Mothman Festival. She reunites with the other six friends that have stayed in the town and sooner they are murdered one by one by The Mothman. Katherine and her former boyfriend Derek (Connor Fox) seek help with an old blind man Frank Waverly (Jerry Leggio) that has been luring The Mothman for many years trying to save their lives from the punishment of the entity.

"Mothman" is a lame collection of clichés about a vigilante entity that punishes the sinners. The predictable plot is a mess, the CGI is very poor and the acting is reasonable but the cast has a very poor material to work. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Castigo Mortal" ("Mortal Punishment")

Right, well "Mothman" was definitely a TV movie in the sense of those words. Sure, it was a slight horror movie, but still it was not something that was overly impressive.

The storyline in "Mothman" was actually adequate, taking into consideration what they had to work with. But the end result of the movie was shoddy and questionable, especially given the poor CGI and the fact that it seemed like not even the actors and actresses themselves were convinced about the outcome of the movie.

The acting in the movie was for the most parts adequate, even with taking into consideration that it felt like most performers were only half-hearted there.

As for the horror aspect in the movie. Well, sure it was generic and straight forward, and not something that haven't already been dabbled with before in other movies. But still, it was sufficiently entertaining enough to keep me watching the movie to the very end. Was I overly entertained, hardly. But I still wanted to see how the movie ended.

Now, the movie suffered terribly from having laughable CGI effects. For a movie from 2010, then the movie was plagued by having special effects reminiscent of a PC game back from the mid-1990s. It was that questionable and laughable to look at, believe you me.

One thing in the movie that had me laughing was the fact that they never reloaded the shotgun and it had a lot, and I mean that literally, a lot of shots stored inside it apparently. That was just such an idiotic mistake to make in a movie.

With "Mothman" watched, I can honestly say that this movie came and went without leaving a dent in anything, only to slowly fade into oblivion. There is no chance of me ever returning to watch "Mothman" because there was just not enough contents in the movie to sustain more than a single viewing - and even that single viewing it at a stretch.

Mothman starts out... essentially it's like another one of those ridiculously common ghost movies. Characters become targeted, some die mysteriously and survivors must discover how to survive.

The monster itself tends to emerge from whatever reflective surfaces are available to murder victims.

The protagonist is visiting and reporting on the town. Killing her first wouldn't raise any suspicions so naturally the monster goes around killing the permanent citizens first.

But things reach their lowest when the monster starts rampaging, ignoring the previously-established rules completely. This scene doesn't make sense in the context of the previous events and is likely caused by a rewrite. Another problem is the main cast; many were murdered without making any impression.

Some movies, even made-for-TV movies, are better than you'd expect. This is not one of them.

The plot could work, if the writing was even decent. The actors really did seem to be doing the best job they could, given a horrible script. The setting and costumes were fine and believable (there are mountains and no-name hotels in West Virginia, and normal young adults will wear jeans and tank tops around town).

This is one of those movies that is the acting equivalent of flipping burgers or cleaning hotel rooms. It's honest work, and the actors did the best they could in the context, but it's a job you hope will be pushed off a resume by better work. Even the TV-movie-only actors deserve better resume content than this mess. Fortunately, some of the cast (such as Firefly's Jewel Staite) have had enough quality work for this thing to only be a place-holder in the long run...One of those jobs you pick up to pay the rent when work is slow, or for some extra cash. Otherwise, this is a horribly mediocre movie and is best for background noise during a weekend afternoon nap.

Just what is The Mothman supposed to be? A harbinger from Hell? A monster from the ID? An extra-terrestrial? Bad acting and stupid plot. There is not enough shock and disbelief from the people responsible for the boy's accidental death. They act like they just dented a fender! The victim He doesn't even look very dead! the Mothman is a tall stuntman in a feathered costume with red glowing eyes! Ask for your 90 minutes back, and go watch "The Mothman Prophecies" (2002) with Richard Gere. It's far better than this mess!

I admit that I do dislike most of the movies airing on the SyFy channel, but I watch them out of curiosity to get novelty value or to see if either of them are actually surprisingly watchable when there is nothing or little else on. Mothman as I've said is not SyFy's worst by a long shot, but it is not very good, as a matter of fact it is rather weak.

The acting is better than anticipated though none are particularly great, but they are undermined by stock and stereotypical characters, a very rushed and underdeveloped story, a laughable script and when they seemingly realised that they only had twenty minutes left and had not finished telling the story the writers decided to include a twist. Unfortunately this twist is utterly moronic leading to one of the weakest endings I've seen in a while.

In conclusion, not the worst but weak. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Swimming in a West Virginia river, six mature-looking teenagers tease (Jared's) younger brother Alex Hardee (as Jamie). They tell him the scary story of the legendary "Mothman" monster. During a strange water game, the cast pulls each other's legs down in the water. Somebody suffers a mishap and the swimmers, led by Jewel Staite (as Katharine Grant), decide to make the death seem like an accident. It already was an accident, and their repeated head-bashing only makes it look worse. However, nobody seems to notice. The kid's not dead, either; you can see him breathing. Maybe that's why the resuscitation attempt was so half-hearted...

Ten years later, Ms. Staite returns to town. A Washington DC reporter, she has been assigned to write a story on the legendary "Mothman" monster of Point Pleasant...

Staite meets the old gang after almost killing one of them in another accident. Quickly, supernatural stuff begins to happen. Probably, the monster is out to punish the cast for making an accidental drowning look like an accident. There is also a parallel incident involving blind resident Jerry Leggio (as Frank Waverly). The leading man is Connor Fox (as Derek Carpenter). The cast is attractive and the special effects are serviceable. Director Sheldon Wilson uses the red eye symbolism well and keeps the cameras steady. Unfortunately, as we get more of the Mothman and the murders, it looks sillier. The story never really makes any sense.

*** Mothman (4/24/10) ~ Sheldon Wilson ~ Jewel Staite, Connor Fox, Matty Ferraro, Jerry Leggio

How do acting and writing careers survive such a terrible movie? Jewel Staite must cringe when this movie is talked about.

I love B-movies. This does not qualify as watchable in my book, even with liquid mind enhancing substances. Remember that mildly amusing movie, Mothman Prophecy? Or perhaps you read the book? Other than the location and the monster this has nothing to do with either.

I'll be honest, the only reason I finished this one was:

A: it was too hot to go outside B: the only episodes of Law and Order that were on were dull C: I'd been reading for hours and I felt like taking a break D: I'm a glutton for pain and kept hoping this movie would give me that B- movie laugh I was looking for. Spoiler alert- it's not there.

Basically this is really bad. No one needs to see this. Unless you are in love with Jewel Staite. Who? My thoughts exactly. But she's pretty and a pleasure to look at... and there are girls in bikinis in the first 10 minutes. There is one very brief scary part (about two seconds worth) and one almost scary part (about half a second) and that's about it... truly next to zero creepy factor, lame CGI and mediocre acting. Bottomline: this movie sucks. I know I should stay away from Made-for-Syfy Channel TV movies but they call to me every now and then so I can see what a truly crappy movie is.

3.2 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

I really had my doubts to pick this one up and I did it a few times, now that I watched it I had hoped that I left it on the shelves. The story you have seen a thousand times before. Legends coming alive.

It starts rather okay by the way that a prank goes wrong. All friends promise that they will never tell the truth about what happened. Naturally they forgot that a urban legend can come alive and is seeking revenge. Sadly, it only appears in reflections and it did in full stupid looking CGI.

The mothman goes after all the friends and once he can fly it all looked like Jeepers Creepers (2001). But it all looked really ridiculous. Nevertheless, the director Sheldon Wilson did knew his stuff by directing already a few horrors like Kaw (2007) and Screamers (2009). But this flick failed completely. I can only speak for myself but Jewel Staite couldn't convince me. But she can act as seen in Serenity (2005).

It never becomes creepy or scary or bloody at all. The poking of the eyes didn't work and scene's with the knife also looked cheaply done. The end was predictable. Ideal for teenagers but not for the horror buffs among us.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Have you ever seen a moth? Did it look frightening to you? If yes then this movie will scare you pretty well, but if not...you'll feel like watching an apple rot. Acting is mostly decent, but I must say the script is below average, and somewhat too predictable. I wished Mothman to eat all the people responsible for their bad actions, because this thing has a justice written all over its crappy wings. Didn't get to see that I'm afraid, but I got to see people trying to kill it with guns, West Virginia hill-billy TM, without success of course. Mothman quickly kills off characters who happen to have 10 lines of text to say. Mothman looks like he's the cousin of the Scream Mask, but with glowing red eyes from the pot he and his designer/inventor smoked. Girl protagonist is annoyingly talking with her natural high pitched voice that would scare the real thing. Seriously, few actors are good at giving their best, but the main character hasn't got anything else to show for. Not even cleavage.

Mothman didn't feel scary, but his death did...great way of copying "Blade", "Buffy the Vampire"...etc.

As I said I'm familiarized with the Mothman lore, as well as the insanely underrated Mothman Prophecies film from 2002. Going into this I was extremely weary because of the low amount of ratings/reviews and the fact it was a SyFy channel movie. I still couldn't resist delving into something to do with Mothman even with a 3.4/10 rating. The film is absolutely ridiculous in so many different ways, but it's nowhere near a 3/10 rating.

While it completely goes in a different ludicrous direction than the greatly eerie 2002 film and many of the eyewitness accounts over the years, they give it enough of a backstory to keep you somewhat intrigued. A main problem I did have with it is that the Prophetic part of the Mothman is completely non existent and they replace it with a revenge slasher type cliche. Maybe that was to get a cheap appeal factor for their target audience but it came off extremely illogical. There are times it feels like a full blown slasher/horror and the eeriness/atmosphere isn't around.

What I did enjoy though were a couple of the main characters especially the main protagonist played by the incredibly gorgeous Jewel Staite, and the old blind man that had a history with this version of Mothman. They were able to give some interesting moments to their cliche written characters. Otherwise the acting was truly dreadful.

I'll also mention what is probably the most divisive thing about this film, which was the SyFy caliber CGI for the Mothman...The amount of absolutely hilariously bad/yet sometimes ambitious concepts they attempted to give a visual to the infamous creature was almost perplexing. Some ideas were actually relatively cool but some looked just plain laughable. I do admire they tried to give viewers something we could see, but the cgi was so inferior most couldn't take it seriously I'd imagine.

Overall this is basically a slasher revenge take on the Mothman with some very low quality moments. The entertainment factor is still remaining and that somehow salvaged it for me from being a complete loss. It can be enjoyable but at the same time incredibly bad.

What begins as an eerie bury-your-secrets tale of friends who cover up the accidental death of one of their group at a waterhole, quickly becomes a supernatural fantasy in which a mythical moth-man beast lays siege to the group a decade later.

Initially positioned as a reliable revenge from beyond the grave story takes an ultimately pointless and unwelcome detour when the strange monster element enters the frame, which is co-incidentally when things take a downward vector, sinking deeper and more rapidly than our body in the waterhole.

The absence of any known actors (Leggio is experienced, but by no means a 'marquee' name) means there's even less to attract and retain a potentially curious audience, whilst failed attempts to create a sinister ambience dampen whatever suspense the tale could otherwise have mustered.

Although it tries hard to develop a sophisticated mystery, the limited production scale, weak dialogue and convoluted plot don't reconcile and the result is a ragged made for TV slasher cheapie that fails to frighten.

The first 10 minutes were kind of good but then all of a sudden the entire movie went to hell. The plot, acting, visuals, dialogs... complete failure.

Jewel Staite gives one of her finest performances in this exciting horror film from visionary director Sheldon Wilson. With an intelligent and insightful script by gifted screenwriters Sonny Lee and Patrick Walsh, Mothman brings a fresh and creative energy to the notorious legend. Amazing special effects highlight the film and Wilson uses the skillful depiction of the red-eyed creature spectacularly. The dialog is smart and clever and the characterizations have depth and humanity. It is refreshing in a horror film to see people behaving like human beings rather than cardboard cutouts simply running for their lives and screaming. Overall, this is an extraordinary motion picture of unusual power that succeeds beautifully as a horror film and brilliantly as a study of individual courage in crisis.

I believe that this movie is getting a worse credit then it deserves. I saw it the other night (before going to sleep was not a good idea) and it was not that bad. You have to admit that Sci-Fi (I prefer the old name) has had worse. And even though I missed the first part (I came in when the lady got killed in her car), the storyline is coherent enough to still make sense. The method of how the Mothman emerges is lacking and has been used. I mean, come on, reflective surfaces? There are an infinite number of reflective surfaces. The windshield glass that they didn't smash is reflective like the mirrors. The gun's barrel, the car's wheels, and their cell phone screens are all reflective.

Low budget and bad CGI is par for the course. Nothing particularly stands out acting wise. The story is okay, although there are a few stupid moments. Borderline watchable.