It seems cruel and unnecessary to criticize a horror film for its limited resources, but at the same time, a film-maker has to recognize just how much of a liability it can be when the budget is stretched out beyond its grasp, and fails to style the film accordingly. This is unfortunately the case with Mothman, another attempt to wring some terror out of the least utilized of American folk legends, and a reasonably spooky one at that. There remains to be made an effective film with this subject, which probably won't be one where the creature, when revealed, looks uncannily like a flash animation.
In the days before she shakes off the dust of her small town and heads out into the big bad world, Katharine Grant (Jewel Staite) and her friends take a CW moment to swim in the river near their West Virginia home, reputedly haunted by the demonic Mothman. Tragedy strikes when the youngest among them drowns, and the rest of them cover it up to make it look like he hurt his head jumping in. Ten years on, and well into her life as a successful journalist, Grant is sent back by her editor to cover a local festival, and to confront everything that she thought she left behind there. But as soon as she comes back, people start dying, and the ramblings of a Mothman-obsessed old lunatic start to make more sense.
It would be fair to say that Mothman's problems extend beyond its budget; its set-up is a little weak, and the backstory that it uses to fill in the gaps in the Mothman legend strain both credulity and patience. But none of those would be serious problems in a film that used its creature to greater effect, as it is certainly possible to do using suggestion and even very modest effects. Mothman, however, swings for the fences and goes for a creature that would be difficult to imagine properly even with the money allocated for a $100 million release, let alone a DVD feature. Every time that the slightest amount of suspense is generated, the Mothman appears with its wide open mouth and glowing red eyes effectively crushing it under a wave of rendering. As far as these features go, it certainly isn't below par, but it's far from maximizing the creepy potential of the Mothman, which has already had enough damage done to its good name (re: The Mothman Prophecies).
Bonus Features
None, save for English and Spanish subtitles.
"Mothman" is on sale October 25, 2011 and is rated R. Horror. Directed by Sheldon Wilson. Written by Patrick Walsh, Sonny Lee. Starring Jewel Staite, Connor Fox, Jerry Leggio.
