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The Wicker Man

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The Wicker Man (2006)

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Reviews Counted: 98

Fresh: 15

Rotten:83

Average Rating: 3.5/10

Consensus: Puzzlingly misguided, Neil LaBute's update The Wicker Man struggles against unintentional comedy and fails.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $23,607,080

Synopsis: Neil LaBute's THE WICKER MAN stars Nicholas Cage as Edward Malus, a policeman thrust into some dangerous detective work by a series of strange events that begin with a horrific car crash. This... Neil LaBute's THE WICKER MAN stars Nicholas Cage as Edward Malus, a policeman thrust into some dangerous detective work by a series of strange events that begin with a horrific car crash. This incident leaves the cop haunted, with images of the accident replaying in his heavily medicated mind. Edward's hiatus from work is interrupted when he receives a mysterious letter from his ex-fiancé, pleading with him to help find her missing daughter, Rowan. Against his better judgment, Edward travels to the remote, privately owned island of Summerisle, home to a close-knit, secretive community with a clear dislike for outsiders. Considering Edward an intruder, the Sisters of Summerisle offer little information regarding the missing girl. Edward is at a loss, finding even his ex-love Willow to be little help. With vacant eyes and a strange, listless way about her, Willow should be the first of many red flags to send Edward running. But in firm horror-movie tradition, the seasoned cop throws caution to the winds, staying in the place longer than seems smart. This 2006 remake veers away from the 1973 film in several key ways. For one, it replaces the original's eerily upbeat folk soundtrack with a tasteful Angelo Badalamenti score. With a mild PG-13 rating, the 2006 version is relatively tame compared to the original. While the 1973 film freely mixed pornographic elements with horror themes and musical numbers, the new film confines itself to horror, abandoning that strange mixture of genres that made Anthony Shaffer's film a cult classic. While LaBute's film adds a back-story and romantic interest, it requires equal suspension of disbelief. Despite their differences, both films end in the same disturbing way, leaving an indelible image that may haunt viewers long after the credits roll. [More]

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski, Frances Conroy, Kate Beahan, Diane Delano, Michael Wiseman, Erika-Shaye Gair

Director: Neil LaBute

Director: Neil LaBute
Screenwriter: Neil LaBute
Producer: Nicolas Cage, Randall Emmett, Avi Lerner
Composer: Angelo Badalamenti
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Wicker Man

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Nicolas Cage gives the worst performance of his career opposite Kate Beahen in this useless update of Robin Hardy's far creepier 1973 original suspense movie based on Anthony Shaffer's novel.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/20/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
10/29/08
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/18/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
08/25/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This new version is boring, nonsensical, forgettable, and just a ninety minute episode of "CSI"...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
07/10/07
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

...there's just something inherently entertaining about watching [Nicolas Cage] one-up himself every few minutes...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
06/30/07
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

In the final act of The Wicker Man, when Nicolas Cage has donned a bear suit, you have to wonder just what it is you're watching.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
UGO

It's a troubled strangeness - the uncommon sight of a literate studio film extolling messages most literate audiences can't get behind - that makes the movie's whole presence fascinating.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
03/15/07
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

...features an over-the-top leading man utilizing every single tic in his arsenal that has ever been impersonated by a comedian, and doing so seemingly with gleeful abandon and blissful unawareness

Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment 4 Comments
02/09/07
Luke Y. Thompson
LYTRules.com

The Wicker Man’s long journey through the decades and across the ocean has led somewhere no one could have predicted, or wanted.

Full Review Source: CBC.ca Arts | comment Comment
12/30/06
Jason Anderson
CBC.ca Arts

Bad idea. Bad film.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

By the time he's running through the woods in a bear suit, it's hard to take any of it seriously.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
12/10/06
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Neil LaBute -- who never met a story he couldn't turn into a paranoid castration fantasy -- dumbs things down enough to insult the stupid.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
11/04/06
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

LaBute's remake could be an atonement, a perversely clever way of turning the gun on himself... or a conspiracy theorist's invective against a gender he fears and loathes.

Full Review Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) | comment Comment
10/13/06
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

click to read full review

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
10/03/06
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/23/06
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Neil LaBute's remake of the British horror classic is as wooden as its titular effigy... and wholly unnecessary.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/23/06
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

The '73 film is brilliantly constructed and ends with a punctuation mark that was shocking in its day. LaBute's movie attempts to shock, as well, and does: Given the names involved and the casting of Cage, it is shockingly bad.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/23/06
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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