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The Wicker Man

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The Wicker Man (2006)

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Reviews Counted:100

Fresh:15

Rotten:85

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.

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Reviews for The Wicker Man

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61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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There are also moments that are so unintentionally funny I wish they'd bring back Mystery Science Theater 3000 to give this movie a good ribbing.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
09/02/06
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Strips away all that was fascinatingly subtextual and deliciously provocative about that unforgettably moody 1973 cult masterpiece, and then pisses on its bare corpse.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment 1 Comment
09/02/06
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

The original Wicker Man had its flaws, particularly in the lumpy pacing. LaBute's thoroughly inessential remake not only lovingly reproduces those flaws, it introduces a slew of new ones.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/02/06
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

The whole thing is transparently a concoction, and so even though the movie holds you, its climax lacks that tingle of madness. All that's burning is some sticks.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
09/02/06
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

The film is being marketed as a horror thriller, but it lacks suspense and is never particularly scary. It's just weak, and the misogyny that has always animated LaBute's work is really tired. Man, give it a rest already.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
09/02/06
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

The Wicker Mangled.

Full Review Source: Horror.com | comment 12 Comments
09/01/06
Staci Layne Wilson
Staci Layne Wilson
Horror.com

This certainly won't be a favorite of Gloria Steinem.

Full Review Source: FulvueDrive-in.com | comment Comment
09/01/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

LaBute saves his big guns for the ending - but by the time you've seen Cage in a bear suit and Burstyn in Braveheart blue-face, no ending is going to save him.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
09/01/06
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

For viewers, the biggest challenge may be holding back screams of laughter as Summersisle is revealed to be the Island of Awful Acting. ... the original film ended with a sudden shock, this one climaxes with high hilarity.

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
09/01/06
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

If a successful marriage were ever engineered to join this artist's personal Heaven and Hell, these late cinematic offspring might finally be as vigorous as his firstborn.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
09/01/06
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

LaBute's remake is an interesting idea that never transforms into a particularly satisfying movie.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/01/06
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This wasn’t a horror film the first time around, and LaBute makes sorry feints at effective creepiness.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/01/06
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice

The first Wicker Man was about a cult. The remake is more about a dolt.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/01/06
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

Cage over the years has more than earned a reputation as an actor who is not afraid to embarrass himself, but in the cause of The Wicker Man, that seems less a commendation than a horrible misjudgment.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
09/01/06
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Nicolas Cage's finest hours are not spent frantically running through a forest in The Wicker Man, especially when he must do so dressed in a bear suit.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment 3 Comments
09/01/06
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle

It's never as scary or suspenseful as it aspires to be, but it might just be the greatest bad movie of the year, with its clunky writing resulting in some surprisingly entertaining kooky moments.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
09/01/06
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

Far more ambitious and stylish than most of today's horror crop, Neil LaBute's remake of the 1973 U.K. cult classic The Wicker Man unfortunately still falls far short of its mark.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
09/01/06
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter

Ahhhhhh, what a waste of talent! For shame!!!!

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
09/01/06
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

The sense of dread that should pervade every frame of film is nowhere to be found. It plays like an expensively produced commercial for some organic product grown with loving care by devotees of all-natural farming and/or animal husbandry

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/01/06
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

A half-compelling, half-goofy and half-redundant piece of remake revisionism. (Yes, that's three halves, but it's that weird a movie.)

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment 1 Comment
09/01/06
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
Cinematical
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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