Blog Monster Movie Moday Double Feature! Wicker Man and Wicker Man

Wicker Man (1973)

Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, and Britt Eckland
Directed by: Robin Hardy
Written by: Anthony Shaffer
Production Company: British Lion Film Corporation

Wicker Man (2006)

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, and Kate Beahan
Directed by: Neil LaBute
Written by: Neil LaBute, based on Anthony Shaffer’s 1973 Screenplay)
Production Company: Millennium Films, Nu Image Films, Saturn Films,
and others

Creating a remake of a cult favorite is a tricky business. It’s tempting because, as a cult fave, it’s not as well known as blockbusters and classics, and thus many viewers will know little or nothing about the original. However, a cult fave’s fan base can give the film a buzz kill, Let’s see how Nicholas Cage and Neil LaBute pull of their remake of Wicker Man.

Anthony Shaffer, Robin Hardy, and Edward Woodward's (no connection to Ed Wood) film strains to be catalogued as a horror film. This evil genius reviewer feels that this “horror” is really more mystery, as it contains few shocks, scares, and no gore. While the inhabitants of Summerisle certainly provide a bizarre and eerie confusion about what’s going on, it still fails to achieve the trappings associated with horror films. However, it is still a wonderful and off-beat film.

Shaffer and Hardy’s Wicker Man follows Sgt. Howie, a Scottish policeman investigating the disappearance of a young girl. Unfortunately for Howie, the residents of the isolated island Summerisle are less that helpful. The residents give him contradictory stories, convoluted explanations, and frequent insistence that he must get permission from Lord Summerisle. As Howie investigates, he is appalled at the Pagan society he has found himself amidst. His revulsion and confusion with the Summerisle community leads Howie to frequent outbursts at the Summerisle residents and an increasing sense of urgency to find the missing girl, Rowan.
Woodward plays Sgt. Howie wonderfully. He eases his character from a regular police officer, a pleasant man trying to help, to a man offended and outraged at the unconventional and heretical community he is investigating, to a feeling of urgency and desperation to save young Rowan. And Britt Eckland’s performance as Willow, the landlord’s daughter, is one of the captivating performances onscreen. Few can match Eckland’s seductive and erotic role of Willow. But as beautiful as Eckland is (you must see her enthralling nude dance scene), and as convincingly Woodward plays Howie, they cannot compare to the screen presence of Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle. Lee’s Summerisle is a confidant, intelligent, and powerful figure, and is one of the great, but unsung, villains in cinema.

Can the 2006 remake of Wicker Man compete?

Naturally, the 2006 version has the same basic setup. A girl is missing in a small, isolated community, this time off the coast of Washington rather than Scotland. While some scenes are shot nearly identical to the original (the school scene, Malus searching door-to-door, the parade of residents dancing through the streets), LaBute adds to the story.

LaBute starts his film off with Edward Malus, a traffic cop following a regular day, until he encounters and woman and her daughter moments before they are hit and killed by a large semi truck. As he recovers, he receives “Get Well” cards from his coworkers, and one strange note from former girlfriend, Willow. She pleads in her letter for his help in finding her missing daughter Rowan. The island where she lives, Summersisle, doesn’t welcome strangers, but he sneaks onto the island to investigate. There he receives contradictory stories and convoluted explanations. He eventually comes to realize that Summersisle is a matriarchal community with some odd cultural practices. As Sgt. Howie did in the original, Malus becomes frantic the more he learns, and when he discovers the truth, it may be too late.

LaBute’s version of the film tries to tie everything together. Malus isn’t a random cop, he’s the former boyfriend of a resident of Summersisle who left the community, but later returned. Also, the missing Rowan is his daughter. The mother and daughter who were killed by the truck also are a part of the schemes of Sister Summersisle. But in connecting everything in such a way, LaBute opens up some plot holes, which were not present in the original and strains our suspension of disbelief. Why did Malus not consider the girl to be his before the revelation? It’s the first thing I thought of, and I’m not a police officer. If Willow was scared of the community, why would she return to have her child there after having already escaped? Malus should have wondered that himself. Malus running around the island shouting “I’m a cop!” is annoying when we all know, including the community members, that he’s out of his jurisdiction, and fails to make us sympathize with the character that Woodward was able to make sympathetic. If Willow was a part of the scheme, why does she look like she’s about to cry at the climax?

If LaBute’s Wicker Man was the original, then it would be an average, nothing special, see it if you have nothing better to do type of movie. But when compared to the original, it fails miserably. It doesn’t have the atmosphere of the original. We are not sympathetic with the main character as in the original. The villain, Sister Summersisle, is not nearly as impressive. The contrast of the island society, in the original Pagan vs. Catholic, in the remake Matriarchal vs. either equal or Patriarchal depending on your opinion, is not as engaging in the remake. And the remake has no nudity.

Remakes are tricky. Most, including this one, fail to live up to the original. So why must Hollywood try and remake films we love? Why not find films with potential but which fell short because of budget, censorship, technology, accepted movie standards and norms, and remake those? And how much longer will we give Hollywood our money for movies we know won’t live up? Well, here’s hoping for a remake of Attack of the Giant Leeches…Or not. It probably wouldn’t live up to the original either…