The Wicker Tree
2012 Directed by Robin Hardy
Synopsis
Director Robin Hardy's reimagining of his eerie 1973 film, The Wicker Man. 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 innocent and wrong they are.
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The original Wicker Man is one of my favourite horror films. It is a strange little movie that really shouldn’t work half as well as it does. Yet no matter how much I love the film I have never wanted to see a sequel, whether it is loosely connected to the original or not, partly because I didn’t see how they would strike gold again. I guess The Wicker Tree proves my initial fears were valid, and whilst I’m pleased Robin Hardy was the one given the opportunity to make the film it is easy to see why he has only made three films in nearly 40 years. This time around the target for the local folk is two very…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Back in 1973, Robin Hardy was a young(ish) filmmaker with something interesting to say and legit frightening way to say it.
In 2012, he’s an 82-year-old coot who probably spent most of his time on set having a one-way conversation with the director’s chair.
The original Wicker Man is awesome. It’s weird and kinda silly and a little hot and sorta really scary. It’s a cult classic of the truest sense. And if nothing else, it led to Nic Cage’s now immortal plea of “No. Not the bees. Oh God. My eyes. They’re in my eyes.”
THE WICKER TREE is the long-gestating sequel that sees two Christian missionaries come to Summerisle in the hopes of converting some Scottish Pagans.
Listen,…
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Films don't necessarily need great scripts and inventive directing to turn then into the classics, but they do need a quality of their own; a uniqueness of tone, a grandeur of vision, or just something that sets it apart. Something that resonates with an audience. 1973's The Wicker Man had unremarkable dialogue and was flatly directed, but it had mystery and an atmosphere all of its own. Which is something that this belated follow-up unfortunately can't match.
The Wicker Tree is not a direct sequel, but thematically treads a familiar path. A pair of Texan evangelical Christians travel to noted heathen area (Scotland) in order to preach the gospel and sing drippy country ballads (one of them used to be…
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The Wicker tree is just plain bad. Cheap sets, awful acting, rehashed plot, a complete lack of any scares or tension and some seriously dodgy and childish religious unpleasantness. Had to watch the Wicker Man immediately afterwards to get rid of the terrible aftertaste this film left me with. The wife had the right idea, she stopped watching after 10 minutes!!!!
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You can't go home again, sometimes.
Robin Hardy's THE WICKER MAN is one of the most superlative horror films ever made, even more so for it's quiet menace and lack of overt horror. "Cowboys for Christ" (a far better title) is a follow up that tries too hard to live up to the legacy of the original, following many of the same beats exactly. It's more like a remix of the original film instead of a new creation or thematic continuation. Even the morbid punchline that is the ending loses its power, as the "villains" talk pretty openly of what they plan to do to the "heroes" all along and, well, if you've seen THE WICKER MAN you know exactly where this is all headed.
The best thing about it is the frequent scenes in which Henry Garrett has his clothes off.
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It's a bit depressing that this film got made - it's not even close to being bad in a good way. I suppose fans of Honeysuckle Weeks might want to see it.
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The perfect campy May Day treat.
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Now this was a strange one. I'm a big fan of the original and this was always likely to be a disappointment. I actually watched the first 20 mins or so of this a while back and turned it off as it just seemed so poor, but after a few beers and late on a Saturday night I thought I would try it again. The acting still seemed poor, but there was the odd flash of the original from time to time. And this was also pretty funny. Tongue was, I believe, very firmly in cheek this time around. At least I hope it was! Worth seeing as a curiosity more than anything else.
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A horror film that is at times, hilarious.
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Although I'm not that much of a purist that I don't think The Wicker Man and it's legacy shouldn't be touched, as there are probably more stories you can tell from that universe, it does seem that somebody forgot to tell Robin Hardy that you at least need to make a film as interesting.
No doubt he thinks The Wicker Tree is subversive and rebellious - and if it were the 1970's that could well be the case - but in 2013 the film plays out like an episode of Monarch of the Glen with some (fake) tits in it.
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Back in 1973, Robin Hardy was a young(ish) filmmaker with something interesting to say and legit frightening way to say it.
In 2012, he’s an 82-year-old coot who probably spent most of his time on set having a one-way conversation with the director’s chair.
The original Wicker Man is awesome. It’s weird and kinda silly and a little hot and sorta really scary. It’s a cult classic of the truest sense. And if nothing else, it led to Nic Cage’s now immortal plea of “No. Not the bees. Oh God. My eyes. They’re in my eyes.”
THE WICKER TREE is the long-gestating sequel that sees two Christian missionaries come to Summerisle in the hopes of converting some Scottish Pagans.
Listen,…
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This movie is just shit. It's like a crappy horror film made by a christian youth group for christian youth groups.
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You can't go home again, sometimes.
Robin Hardy's THE WICKER MAN is one of the most superlative horror films ever made, even more so for it's quiet menace and lack of overt horror. "Cowboys for Christ" (a far better title) is a follow up that tries too hard to live up to the legacy of the original, following many of the same beats exactly. It's more like a remix of the original film instead of a new creation or thematic continuation. Even the morbid punchline that is the ending loses its power, as the "villains" talk pretty openly of what they plan to do to the "heroes" all along and, well, if you've seen THE WICKER MAN you know exactly where this is all headed.
The best thing about it is the frequent scenes in which Henry Garrett has his clothes off. -
A film that no one asked for. The Wicker Tree is the spiritual sequel to the cult classic The Wicker Man. Its nearly unwatchable. Stupid characters, terrible script and a ridiculous ending. The movie also pretty much offends every nationality with American's being made to look like complete retards. An all round shockingly bad film, The Wicker Tree is simply one of the worst films ever made.