The cult horror film theWicker Man is one of those strange films that received cult status and either loved or hated by fans. The much hated remake with Nicolas Cage didn’t do much other than bring the film to a new generation. Original writer director Robin Hardy has returned with The Wicker Tree, a reimagining companion piece to his original film meant to be the second in a trilogy.
The Wicker Tree follows two young missionaries who go to Scotland, where they are initially charmed by their engaging baron Sir Lachlan Morrison and agree to become the local Queen of the May and Laddie for the annual Tressock town festival. But the couple is not prepared for the frightening consequences of their decision and the very disturbing secrets they are about to discover about Tressock's seemingly friendly townspeople. For all purposes this is the same movie just told with different characters. The story is decent enough, much like the original, but it’s the execution where things go wrong. The acting her is pretty bad throughout with the exception of a couple of people. Much like the original film there is an extremely slow build up to the finale, but here fails to really deliver much of anything. This had the potential to improve on some of the things that were missing in the original, but instead opted to stick to the same formula that just didn’t deliver the film it could have. Christopher Lee makes a cameo that although doesn’t say it, seems to really be his character from the original, but according to him it isn’t, where-as Hardy has stated that it is, so who knows.
Both the original Wicker Man and The Wicker Tree are films that are an acquired taste. Both make sense for the most part, but seem to be all over the place, with aspects feeling more like a musical. The music aspect was meant to enhance both films, but instead take you out of the strange going ons and instead make you shrug in confusion. If you like the original you may enjoy the return of Hardy to this concept, but this entry still doesn’t deliver in the way the original did.
