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The Terrifying Mothman Was First Spotted 50 Years Ago
Was the winged monster a villain, a hero, or a hoax?
It seems that every region has its own Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster, and in West Virginia, the mythical beast known as the Mothman is something of a local celebrity. Specifically in the city of Point Pleasant, the Mothman is a driving force for tourism, with hundreds descending upon the city each September for an annual festival that commemorat
This year’s Mothman Festival celebrated the 50th anniversary of the very first Mothman sighting, which was recorded on November 12th, 1966. On that night, five men who were digging a grave in Clendenin, WV reported that a large figure, described as man-like, flew over their heads, and in the wake of that initial sighting, dozens of reports began to flood in of similar encounters.
Just a few days later, the most infamous Mothman sighting was reported. On November 15th, two Point Pleasant couples told local police that a large white creature with glowing red eyes and ten-foot wings followed them as they drove along the road, and their description was echoed by countless others. The Mothman was almost always described as a human-sized creature with wings and red eyes, and though nobody ever reported attacks of any kind, one resident notably told police that he believed the monster was responsible for his dog going missing.
But what’s most interesting about the Mothman legend is the creature’s connection to the December 15th, 1967 collapse of Silver Bridge, which ran between Point Pleasant and Gallipolis, Ohio. Forty six people lost their lives when the bridge collapsed, and many to this day believe the Mothman arrived in Point Pleasant as a harbinger of doom, warning of the impending collapse.
The 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies, inspired by John Keel’s same-named book, played up the Mothman’s possible connection to the Silver Bridge collapse, noting that the Mothman was never again seen in Point Pleasant after the tragedy. And indeed the sightings did stop in the wake of the bridge collapsing, furthering the theory that the events were connected.
Did the Mothman somehow cause the bridge’s collapse or did he arrive in Point Pleasant to warn residents of what was about to happen? Or maybe, as some believed at the time, the Mothman was actually just a large bird that wandered into the city. Of course, it’s entirely possible that it’s all just another case of a hoax spiraling out of control; perhaps the most likely explanation.
Then again, maybe the Mothman is still out there. Maybe your town is next.
Art by King328
Let’s start with the good news. Lockbox looks far better than its misleading marketing materials suggest, a supernatural horror movie so darkly lit and color graded that you’ll have to squint your way through jump scares. It’s also anchored by reliable genre performers. That’s also about where the good news ends with this rote adaptation of Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop.”
The empathetic Carla Gugino gives her all as Ellen, a saint of a woman with boundless patience who takes on life’s hard luck with a kind smile. After giving up her career as a fashion designer to become caretaker for a dying mother, she’s then forced to reinvent herself once more when her caretaker role ends. That catches us up to the events of Lockbox, where Ellen is asked to take in a cousin she hasn’t seen in quite some time who’s dealing with severe PTSD.
Just as Ellen finally establishes a real connection with Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci), it’s interrupted by the arrival of peculiar neighbor Vahna (Katharine Isabelle), who spells clear trouble. When Vahna shows up dead, it sets in motion a supernatural battle of possession.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
Director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism, Prey for the Devil) and screenwriter Justin Yoffe approach Lockbox in the broadest of brushstrokes, dooming it from the start with clunky storytelling and woefully underdeveloped themes of heady topics like PTSD. Winthrop is a character that comes loaded with emotional baggage and trauma that’s piled on throughout his tragic life, but much like its title, his interiority and history are treated like a tightly guarded secret meant to prolong the supernatural mystery.
The problem here, though, is that Lockbox is too sparse to sustain mystery at all, and it instead robs Winthrop of characterization. It winds up trapping the talented Pucci without anywhere to go, toggling between wounded animal and mentally disoriented.
From there, Lockbox bounds through plot developments without any sense of stakes or purpose, peppered by a smattering of haphazard paint-by-numbers jump scares. The only unwavering constant is Ellen’s resolute faith, and Stamm seems to leave it entirely to Gugino to guide confused audiences through this inconsequential story right up until its supernatural climax.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
To give more credit, Lockbox at least injects an unconventional exorcism here; just don’t expect much in the way of explanation. When the film finally reveals the meaning behind its title, it dangles a fascinating carrot it has zero interest in delivering. More than a severe lack of fleshing out its characters beyond plot drivers or devices, this faith-based flick also seems terrified to offer any worldbuilding whatsoever.
Yoffe’s script stretches the short story beyond its means instead of fleshing it out, and Stamm fills out the gaps with cheap CGI scares and overwrought performances; Isabelle’s Vahna is beyond cartoonish in her villainy. It’s also pretty nonsensical, treating only Ellen’s faith with the utmost sincerity and largely squandering its typically reliable talent. So much so that the final imagery, pure sunkissed saccharine sentimentality, leaves you with the feeling that this horror movie might be better suited as an entry in Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Lockbox releases in select theaters on July 3, 2026.
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