The Wicker Man (2006)

Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  This was decent till the end and I was just disapointed in the entire ending.

• David L

  
  Avoided this film for a long time but finally sat down to watch it so here we go. A detective (Nicolas Cage) goes to Summer's Isle to look for a girl named Rowan at the request of a former girlfriend named Willow. But he is instead met by an island of women who dominate the men… More
  Avoided this film for a long time but finally sat down to watch it so here we go. A detective (Nicolas Cage) goes to Summer's Isle to look for a girl named Rowan at the request of a former girlfriend named Willow. But he is instead met by an island of women who dominate the men and sacrifice girls at an altar of fire to help their crops grow. I enjoyed the acting of Ellen Burstyn (who plays Christopher Lee's role as Summerisle), though I was disappointed in the casting choice. I would have preferred an older horror actress, or even better someone from the original film. Burstyn makes a great matriarchal figure, but doesn't really have the credentials for the role she was cast in. (I should also briefly note Nicholas Cage is not a horror actor... and his acting here is splotchy and uneven, to say the least.) Neil LaBute directs, after being best known for "Nurse Betty". I've read the novella "The Shape of Things" by LaBute, as well, and don't see how LaBute got this project. What about these past projects says "you're the guy to remake an English horror classic"? Here's where the spoilers come in: As a film by itself, the movie was weak, but as a remake it was completely worthless. It was as if you took a great novel written on the college level and gutted it for 10-year olds. But did it in such a way that even the kids' intelligence is insulted. I have four primary concerns. First, the replacement of the pagan religion with the women-dominated society. This sanitized the brilliant dichotomy of Christianity and paganism from the original, getting rid of the most thought provoking aspects. The all female society thing has been overdone (how many times has "Star Trek" done this?). Along with this, the original made Christianity get called into doubt and made the islanders seem innocent. Here, we are confronted by people who outright murder and burn people... so even though Cage comes across as a jerk, the islanders are clear villains. This completely reverses the greatest dimension of the first film. Third, the Willow character is completely stupid and extraneous. In the original, we were given a little piece at a time of the Rowan mystery. This made the film very enjoyable for the viewer. But in the remake, this Willow character shows up at random times to explain the plot to Cage (and us), making most of the mystery shallow or completely removed. And finally, the death of Cage is utterly stupid nonsense. In the original, the detective is a Christian and his faith is tested for a couple days to make sure he is pure for sacrifice. In the new one, there is no purity or any hint of religiousness. All they require is a link to the island. So, my question is this: why did they give him the run-around instead of just knocking him unconscious in the first place? He was not tested, and the lies were pointless... making the entire film utter bull. Can you tell I didn't care for this film? As a piece of entertainment, it serves a purpose. But it's poorly written, not expertly acted... and a great insult to the viewer and the original film. I wouldn't let anyone watch this, not even to compare to the original... it's just not worth the time. Watch the original instead

• E.J. B

  
  Top Five Reasons to watch The Wicker Man: 1. Nicholas Cage slowly walks up to a woman, never breaking eye contact. He reminded me of Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. He then knocks her completely unconscious. 2. Nicholas Cage, in a bear costume, clotheslines an old… More
  Top Five Reasons to watch The Wicker Man: 1. Nicholas Cage slowly walks up to a woman, never breaking eye contact. He reminded me of Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. He then knocks her completely unconscious. 2. Nicholas Cage, in a bear costume, clotheslines an old lady. 3. Nicholas Cage karate kicks Leelee Sobieski square in the face. 4. Nicholas Cage screaming, ``Killing me won`t bring back your damn honey!`` 5. Nicholas Cage screaming, ``No! Not the bees!`` Actually, just Youtube The Wicker Man Best Scenes. Someone was kind enough to edit these scenes together. Painfully slow, lifeless acting, and too many unintentionally funny moments to count, this is filmmaking at its most incompetent. I truly mean it when I put this movie right up there with Tommy Wiseau`s The Room as one of the most unintentionally funny movies ever made. And just like The Room, maybe one day The Wicker Man remake will obtain a cult following where people attend, laugh, and just make fun of this horrible piece of celluloid.

• Kristijonas F

  
  Although Nicolas Cage tries his hardest to make it work, this movie is ridiculously frustrating to watch and just falls apart mid-way.

• Lady D

  
  An updated Hollywood remake of the British Classic film. Whilst it follows in line with the original storyline, some amendments have been made to keep it up to date. The ending was possibly more of an impact in this version, again changing with the times and it had been made just a… More
  An updated Hollywood remake of the British Classic film. Whilst it follows in line with the original storyline, some amendments have been made to keep it up to date. The ending was possibly more of an impact in this version, again changing with the times and it had been made just a tad more violent. I probably enjoyed this version slightly more, but it's still only a watchable, take or leave it type of film.

• Anthony L

  
  Don't remake great films is the lesson learnt here because you will never better them. Neil LaBute obviously enjoys British films but doesn't seem to pay them much respect. His rewriting of this film is awful, the script is puzzling and the acting is shockingly bad. His… More
  Don't remake great films is the lesson learnt here because you will never better them. Neil LaBute obviously enjoys British films but doesn't seem to pay them much respect. His rewriting of this film is awful, the script is puzzling and the acting is shockingly bad. His infantile 'It was all just a bad dream' sequences were nauseating and the script is so bad I've mentioned it twice. The iconic scenes where Edward Woodward shouts Heathens at the folk of Sumerisle and prays for his life are classic pieces of cinema that send an ever lasting chill through the soul, hearing Nicolas Cage shouting 'Bitches' at a bunch of old women doesn't really have the same impact! As far as bad remakes goes, this has to be up there as one of the worst! Avoid!!

• Dean !

  
  A very average film, a remake of a classic that I have yet to see. Not an awful lot happens and you can guess what will happen about halfway through any way. Could have been a lot better, apparently the original is much better!

• Stephen M

  
  "This is a story whose chapters were carefully written," says Ellen Burstyn's Sister Summersisle, toward the end of the film. I beg to differ; the plot is a bloody mess! The fact that this remake of the 1973 cult classic is horrendously awful is somehow easier to take… More
  "This is a story whose chapters were carefully written," says Ellen Burstyn's Sister Summersisle, toward the end of the film. I beg to differ; the plot is a bloody mess! The fact that this remake of the 1973 cult classic is horrendously awful is somehow easier to take than if it had been just plain mediocre. I'm not going to waste too much breath on it. LaBute's script loses much of the cleverness and subtlety of Anthony Shaffer's brilliant original, while adapting the few elements it preserves without, it seems, comprehending their significance to the ingenious web Shaffer was spinning. I'm dancing around the subject a little here because I don't want to spoil the plot for anybody who hasn't seen the original, but there were basically three crucial aspects to Edward Woodward's character, Sergeant Howie, that made him just the man the community of Summerisle were looking for: his devout Christianity, his chastity and, as a policeman investigating the disappearance of a little girl, the power he wielded. LaBute fudges all three of these. For example, Nicholas Cage's character is a still a police officer, a Californian highway patrolman, but the script relocates him to Washington state, outside his jurisdiction, rendering him effectively powerless. Anyway, I won't go on. Just avoid it; it's really bad! Cage is dreadful. Molly Parker's is the one effective performance.

• Randy T

  
  No more remakes!!

• Red L

  
  I found the story interesting. I didn't like Nicolas Cage's character. As I watched more of it, it felt vaguely familiar and got more so as the movie progressed. After I finished the movie I checked up, and sure enough, I would have seen the original Wicker Man in the… More
  I found the story interesting. I didn't like Nicolas Cage's character. As I watched more of it, it felt vaguely familiar and got more so as the movie progressed. After I finished the movie I checked up, and sure enough, I would have seen the original Wicker Man in the 1970's. If you decide to watch this, watch the 1973 version, and skip this one. PS, on TV I saw the DVD ending. Think I would have preferred the theatre ending.

• Brian D

  
  One word "shit"...Done

• Aaron N

  
  Edward Malus: [a bee helmet has been placed onto his head and bees are being poured inside] OH, NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! OH, THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! AAAAHHHHH! AAAAAGGHHH! There is little to say about this except for the fact that this movie will most… More
  Edward Malus: [a bee helmet has been placed onto his head and bees are being poured inside] OH, NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! OH, THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! AAAAHHHHH! AAAAAGGHHH! There is little to say about this except for the fact that this movie will most likely remain as one of the most frustratingly bad movies that I have ever seen. Nic Cage is literally the voice of the audience, running around and acting confused for the majority of the movie. This is a terrible, terrible, terrible movie. Edward Malus: [pointing at school children] Your all little liars! And You! Your the biggest liar of them all!

• Film C

  
  i thought it was really really good until it went and had a really shit ending it was rli gd untuil then

• Daniel J D

  
  A low-rent mixture of Silent Hill and The Village. I watched 3/4 of this movie in fast forward... It was kinda' fun to see Nicholas Cage beat down women and getting burned alive though... In any other movie, these would have been the low points of the movie, but here they were… More
  A low-rent mixture of Silent Hill and The Village. I watched 3/4 of this movie in fast forward... It was kinda' fun to see Nicholas Cage beat down women and getting burned alive though... In any other movie, these would have been the low points of the movie, but here they were the highlights. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo First Ghost Rider and now this? Nicholas, you're falling off fast. Oh and I forget, He did The Weatherman, too... Dang, he must be strapped for cash or something.

• Megan S

  
  It was okay...I was in the mood for a scary movie so it let me down in that department. I didn't figure out what was going on until right before the end.

• Dr Blood  

  
  As a very sinister mystery, this has a slightly predictable ending for anyone who knows their ancient British customs.

• Morgan S

  
  BAD!!!! this is nicolas cage at his WORST! the whole with was rediculous! do not waste your time.

• Luke B

  
  A film so terrible when it hasn't got you laughing at it's stupidity you are cringing out of embarrassment. The original film was unique, it simply cannot be remade as this film proves. The original was creepy, atmospheric, scary and had a point about the conflict between… More
  A film so terrible when it hasn't got you laughing at it's stupidity you are cringing out of embarrassment. The original film was unique, it simply cannot be remade as this film proves. The original was creepy, atmospheric, scary and had a point about the conflict between religion and was in a way a folk musical. Here Nicolas Cage plays a smug, know it all cop who we want dead. Labute misses the mark by such a wide margin. Deciding to make bee worshipping women who rule an island, where men cannot talk. The dialogue is hideous. The only thing this film has going for it is how unintentinally funny it is. "Step away from the bike"

• Dean M

  
  Really strange haunting and mystery story I ever watched. But I haven't seen the 1973 British original film yet.

• Drew S

  
  Fails on every conceivable level - as a horror movie, a creepy cult movie, and as anything worth being seen in theaters. There's not a single ounce of promise in this movie, except the inherent comic properties of Nicolas Cage roundhouse kicking Leelee Sobieski and wearing a bear… More
  Fails on every conceivable level - as a horror movie, a creepy cult movie, and as anything worth being seen in theaters. There's not a single ounce of promise in this movie, except the inherent comic properties of Nicolas Cage roundhouse kicking Leelee Sobieski and wearing a bear costume. See the original! It has an intelligent, dynamic plot and some really interesting theological clashes. This has...well...bees.

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