The Wicker Tree (2012)

You won't be disappointed!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Quite possibly the worst re-make of any film and quite possibly one of the worst films ever.

...and NOT in a good way. THE WICKER TREE is one of the most awful sequels in existence, a completely terrible movie made all the worse by the fact that THE WICKER MAN is one of the best British horror films in existence. I truly have no idea what Robin Hardy was thinking when he wrote and directed this; it looks like the man's talent left him many, many years ago.This time around, the action is set on the Scottish mainland, where a couple of American evangelists have turned up to preach their usual guff to the residents of a village. The American characters are one of the worst things about this; the acting is horrendous and they're saddled with the kind of goofy charm of an American PIE movie, not a supposed horror movie like this. They're completely at odds with the rest of the production.Elsewhere, the main thrust of the story of the first film is copied almost word for word, with a couple of (poor) twists to differentiate things. There's time for an extensive sub-plot to graphically portray what the "riding of the laddie" is all about, but I wonder why they bothered because it's hardly profound. Christopher Lee was meant to star in this but had to pull out due to ill health, with the reliable Graham McTavish (RAMBO) stepping in; Lee still appears but only in a brief greenscreen cameo. For once I'm glad he didn't appear for longer and debase himself with a leading role here.Former child actress Honeysuckle Weeks turns up, unrecognisably aged and forced to strip for the majority of her running time; you have to feel for her that things have come to this. But it's the tone of THE WICKER TREE that is so very, very wrong; that a sequel to one of the classics of British CINEMA, let alone the horror genre, made by the same writer/director of all people, should totally miss the mark and become this kind of mess. All you can do is shake your head and cry.

My husband and I stumbled upon this movie on TV late last night, and were really enjoying it at the beginning. We enjoyed the Pagan elements of the story, and the friskiness of the storyline. Knowing nothing about this film, we assumed, in fact, that this movie was a lighthearted tale, showing the folly of the young Christians trying to convert the determined Pagan folk. The tone of the film up until about the last half hour is light and sexy and humorous, which made us really like it. Then it suddenly veers into a much darker place, and the tone becomes like that of a good old vintage '70's horror movie. So basically my complaint is the sudden change in tone. It is true that the film seemed a bit superficial, but it was also pretty funny. It could have been improved by deepening the story somehow. And I guess I felt a little unsatisfied at the end, because of the shift in tone. But I still say it is worth viewing, especially if you like Wicker Man-type stories. This is definitely not the Wicker Man, as it is pretty humorous for most of the movie. Maybe that is why Wicker Man (the original) is so effective--it maintained the same ominous tone from the beginning of the movie. But, in conclusion, I have to say I enjoyed watching this movie for what it as. And if you enjoy watching a beautiful naked woman pray to the goddess from the middle of a lovely Scottish stream, you will enjoy it too.

Young Christians Beth and Steve, a gospel singer and her cowboy boyfriend, leave Texas to preach door-to-door in Scotland.When, after initial abuse, they are welcomed with joy and elation to Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How wrong they are.....The original Wicker man was full of menace and a strange feeling of dread throughout, much like Don't Look Now, and is still heralded today as one of the finest British horror movies ever made.Now we have this, which stamps all over the classic and almost ruins Hardys vision.It was so camp, so over the top, and filled with this really strange unfunny humour, that it was like a car crash, you didn't want to watch it, but you couldn't take your eyes off the screen.The two Americans were truly awful and typecast, and she gave the funniest line in the film, when she is praying and thanking the Lord for her good looks. She really had to look in the mirror.McTavish is good though, but not in it enough, and really make she film a little bit more affable when in it, hence the score of two.Lee pops up for a minute, in front of blue screen, looking angry, and that's really the only connection to the original.It really is a dog of a film, laughable in so many ways, but fans of the original, will just be angry.See the Cage remake, it's The Exorcist compared to this.