The Mothman Curse

Director - Richard Mansfield (Wolfskin: Sister of the Wolf Spirits)
Starring - Rachel Dale (Macbeth No More), Stephen Glover (Making It), and Daniel Mansfield (The Secret Path)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "An ancient evil unleashed"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was in elementary school I started my descent into horror when Goosebumps premiered and never looked back.  I would sometimes visit the library and would check out the same novel featuring several West Virginia ghost stories.  That novel, The Devil's Tea Tables: West Virginia Ghost Stories and Other Tales.  was and still is one of my favorite reads.  I absolutely loved that book and recently bought it while traveling to a park here in the state.  Anyway, one time I was returning the novel to the library and the janitor was near the counter when I dropped it off.  I grew up in rural West Virginia in one of the poorest counties in the nation so metal, horror, and the like was not a popular subject among the religious fanatics of the 90s.  However, the janitor, standing there with his Alice in Chains t-shirt told me to check out a book titled The Silver Bridge and then told me, in detail, about the Mothman.  His little yarn scared the total shit out of me and I did not have the guts to check the book out but this incident stayed with me forever until I was in high school and decided to dive deeper into the Mothman.  It was this time that the Mothman Prophecies was released.  When I learned that the legend was from West Virginia I was instantly hooked and been actively interested in the legend since.  Recently, Wild Eye sent me the found footage (so to speak) film The Mothman Curse.  I was intrigued and was very thankful they sent it my way.

     The film follows two young women in London who work in an old museum.  As the two work one of the young girls start to suspect her friend is hiding something from her because she is acting weird.  The girl has been acting strange and before long her friend starts to see things out the corner of her eye and black apparitions that disappear upon closer inspection.  Soon her friend reveals that she has accidentally released an ancient evil known as the Mothman and now they both are cursed.

     The Mothman Prophecies was a boring, mediocre flick released in 2002 that followed a modern retelling of the legend that surrounds the myth of the Mothman.  The beast has been said to only be seen in Point Pleasant, WV and the surrounding areas so any story about the cryptid should take place in the state.  Sadly, The Mothman Curse does not take place inside WV nor does it stay close to the original myth.  The acting in this one is a bit of a chore to watch.  The two young girls seem to have no chemistry with each other which results in what feels like two drama students rehearsing their lines with one another.  A lot more practice and experience would have went a long way with this one.  The story for this one is one we have seen before in so many other flicks and fails to add the Mothman angle in a believable angle.  Those of you that are familiar with Mothman story will know that it is speculated that the beast is actually extraterrestrial and not something that can be summoned like a demon.  Those familiar with the story will not be happy with the films outcome due to the Mothman angle.  The story would have worked better if it was an actual demon or another evil that actually has roots in demonology.  Finally, the film does not have any bloodshed and kills that drive horror fans to tales like this.  Instead, it tries to take the thriller route only to fail at delivering the chills needed for an effective thriller.  Overall, The Mothman Curse is a film I had high hopes for only to be let down.  I enjoy the editing and cinematography of the film which makes it look like an arthouse approach to the found footage sub-genre but it fails to deliver a convincing story with suspenseful atmosphere.