Well-shot horror/thriller loosely based on true events (and John A. Keel's book) stars Richard Gere as a reporter for the Washington Post who ends-up in the small town of Point Pleasant, Virginia where the residents believe in a moth-like creature that causes things to happen.

Gere gets drawn into an investigation into this when it turns out his wife (who died due to a car accident two years prior) was sketching drawings similar to the townsfolks descriptions just before her death. Throw in the fact all sorts of weird events happen to him and that he gets a few demonic sounding phone calls and it's a struggle to separate fact from fiction (sort of like this movie is).

Though the plotting can get a tiny bit jumbled at times this supernatural thriller is certainly watchable thanks to an off-beat first two-thirds that director Pellington gives some mysterious mood (I enjoyed the eerie phone call moment) but stumbles in the finale where all that hard work getting us caught up in the story (it's pretty compelling for the most part) is tossed aside for an unsatisfying and weak pay-off involving a bridge (after all the evil calls, visions and prophecies you'd expect more).

Generally, though, this isn't that bad with steady acting (though the sappy sentimental angle between Gere and sheriff Laura Linney doesn't work that great) and enough decent moments to be worth a look.

Directed By: Mark Pellington.
Written By: Richard Hatem.

Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Patton, Debra Messing.