Warner Bros. Starring: Nicholas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Beahan
Directed By: Neil LaBute
Rated: PG-13
Warner Bros.
I have to preface this review by saying that I have never seen the original 1973 film upon which this remake is based. I went to see this film at the suggestion of a friend who had seen the original...and he thought it compared fairly well (although wasn't quite as good). I'll just stick to reviewing this version.
This is apparently a year for horror films, and The Wicker Man beat most of the competition to the theaters by a couple of months. And beat the competition out of the theaters by a couple of months. I'm not surprised. It's not that it's a bad film...on the contrary, I thought it was pretty decent, especially since I went into it not knowing anything about it. I think the major problem is that it had very little promotion. I think I might have seen one trailer for it. And I go to the movies a lot.
The story begins as police officer Edward Malus (Cage) witnesses a terrible auto accident where he is unable to save the life of a mother and her young daughter. While on psychological leave after the incident, Malus receives a letter from his ex-fiance Willow (Beahan). She claims that her daughter--who, it turns out, is also Malus' daughter--has been kidnapped and that she needs Malus' help. Willow lives on a strange little island in the Pacific Northwest called Summersisle. From the moment Malus sets foot on the island, it's obvious that it's a very strange place. It seems to be a commune run by women. They treat Malus suspiciously, and make every effort to foil his attempts to find the missing girl. It quickly becomes obvious to Malus that there is more here than meets the eye, and before he knows it he's in too deep for his own good.
Although the critics universally panned this film, I didn't think it was bad at all. The story gets off to a slow start, but it picks up as soon as Malus gets to Summersisle. I was a little bugged by the fact that there's never anything that links the car wreck Malus witnesses to what he experiences afterward (even though he has many flashbacks to it), and I spent too much time trying to figure out what the connection was. Other than that, the overall weirdness of the story and the creepy nature of the people on the island kept me glued to the screen. It keeps you wondering what will come next. I also found the religious commentary of the film rather interesting. The cult that the people of the island followed was at the same time scary and familiar (in its dogmatic approach to issues if not in its specific practices). It resonated with me and my view of organized religion as a whole.
LaBute did a decent job in both his writing and directing capacities. The characters (other than Malus) are rather broad and shallow, and the story sometimes feels a little disjointed and rushed, but overall it remained interesting throughout. And I do like a story that isn't afraid to pull punches at the end.
Was it as bad as the critics said? Nah. Will it find its way into my permanent video collection? Probably not. But I don't feel like I wasted my money seeing it the one time. I'm always up for a horror film.
Bottom line: A different and decent--though not great--thriller/horror film that's worth a look-see.