Search - The Wicker Man (Widescreen Unrated/Rated Edition) on DVD

Cara F. (dichten) from PRT WASHINGTN, WI
Reviewed on 12/6/2009...

Having seen the 1973 "The Wicker Man", I was quite interested to see how (and if) America could match or even surpass the caliber of the British version.

This movie stars (and was produced by) Nicolas Cage, who plays police officer Edward Malus. We begin the film following Malus's routine as a motorcycle traffic cop -- who catches a children's doll as it is thrown from the window of a heavily burdened station wagon. After pulling the wagon over, a very nervous driver explains that she and her daughter are moving and that (possibly due to stress?) her daughter has been acting up. Malus understands and gives the doll back with a small speech about responsibility. The daughter then throws it into the middle of the road.

As Malus fetches the doll, a semi barrels into the station wagon which then bursts into flames. He tries desperately to save the mother and daughter, breaking the back window with his helmet and reaching for the eerily calm little girl.

He fails to save them.

We now move to his home, where he spends his days watching the TV and medicating; he has visions of his failure.

Malus receives a visit from one of his coworkers (crushing on Malus no doubt), who hands him a stack of get-well letters from the residence of their California town. One letter is from Malus's ex-fiance Willow. Willow's daughter Rowan has gone missing, though she could not have left the island. Could Malus please come to Summersisle to aid in the search?

Despite his emotional state, Malus does go to the island (after bribing a pilot to take him there) and begins to ask questions. The islanders reply haughtily to Malus's inquiries, stating that if Rowan existed they would know. They deny that Willow even has a daughter.

From here the movie vaguely resembles the 1973 film, with Malus investigating and learning about the odd pagan rituals of the island.

Ellen Burstyn stars as Sister Summersisle, a direct descendant from the founding colony. She explains that men are only important for "breeding" and heavy labor, while the women are the pillar of the island (some keeping the massive sprawl of bee hives which provide the island's main source of income: honey, though the crop has failed this past year). They islanders do not believe in murder.

The ending of the movie is the same as the original film (though with a possibly inane addition which I am loath to give away).

The "shocking" alternate ending on this double-sided release is not shocking. In fact, it's completely unnecessary.

All in all, the British version of this movie is far better. However, if you feel a little icky with '70s era English film than this "..Wicker Man" (a Disney production by comparison) might be right for you.

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Burn, burn!

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 12/25/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The star of the original "Wicker Man," Christopher Lee, said it best: "What do I think of it? Nothing. There's nothing to say."

And indeed there is little to say about this flaccid, nonsensical remake of the classic cult horror movie. Little that's positive, anyway -- the movie stumbles around blindly, trying to give itself atmosphere with hokey tricks and silly-looking cinematography. Put simply, "The Wicker Man" is a big, weird mess.

Cop Edward Malus (Nicholas Cage) is recuperating from a traumatic incident, which means he's not on top form when his ex-fiance Willow (Kate Beahan) gets in touch with him. Her child Rowan has vanished, and she wants Malus' help. And so he travels to a remote northern island, ruled by the matriarch Sister Summerisle (Ellen Burstyn).

It seems that the people there are some kind of bizarre neopagan tribe, and the women all hate Malus. The few men there are basically second-class citizens. And as Malus comes closer to finding the little girl who may be his daughter, he discovers a horrifying secret -- which is waiting for him.

Remaking anything is a tricky business, and "The Wicker Man" takes the worst possible approach -- it tries to bluster through. It has a lot to bluster about, because there's no suspense, no atmosphere, and no horror -- only a lame and unsuspenseful mystery, and a bad acid-trip finale, with lots of people in animal costumes.

To make matters worse worse, it feels like it was scripted by several different people who never bothered to consult each other. Allusions -- like Malus' tape -- are dropped. The emotional appeal is trite. The metaphors and symbolism are appallingly blatant, until you feel that Cage's character must be the biggest idiot on the Pacific coast if he hasn't clued in yet.

Director Neil LaBute obviously has no idea how to bring this celluloid Frankenstein's monster to life. So he dresses Cage in a furry costume and saddles the incoherent script with weird bee analogies and absurd dialogue ("Killing me won't bring back your g*dd*mn honey!"), apparently hoping that it will overcome the flimsy plot.

Even worse, sometimes it gets unintentionally campy or funny, when it's actually being deadly serious. The most unintentionally funny moment of the movie comes when Burstyn dramatically says, "Prepare the drone!" near the climax. You'll be rolling off your seat.

Cage himself comes across as confused and over-the-top ("How'd it get burnt?" repeated over and over), and it's hard to care whether his character lives or dies. Burstyn does as well as can be expected, given that her matriarch is a pale shadow of Christopher Lee, and a pretty silly one at that. The other actors just sleepwalk through.

Remakes are bad enough, but remakes of cult classics are simply unforgivable. It's not hard to see why this disjointed dud was a box-office disaster.

(Merry Christmas to all!)"

The Horror! The Horror!

Scott T. Rivers | Los Angeles, CA USA | 10/13/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In cynical fashion, the major studios churn out needless remakes aimed at young moviegoers who lack imagination to track down the originals. The latest casualty is "The Wicker Man" - writer-director Neil LaBute's desecration of the 1973 British horror favorite. Like most contemporary remakes, it has been justly ignored. Hollywood's creative bankruptcy never ceases to astonish me."