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A Passion For Horror
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The Wicker Man (2006)Directed by Neil LaBute
I am generally not a fan of remakes. There are exceptions, but this film isn't one of them I'm afraid, and to be honest I found it pretty bland and boring. Nicolas
Cage plays a motorcycle cop
named Edward Malus. After an incident involving an exploding car, Malus
takes some time off work to pull himself together. While he is
convalescing at home, in front of his TV, he receives a letter from his
former fiancee, Summersisle is a privately owned island and the islanders value their privacy, which makes it a little difficult for the cop to get there. He takes a boat part of the way and then has to resort to a little bribery in order to coerce the pilot of a small private plane, into adding him to the island's regular delivery, which he is just about to fly over to them. Once on the island Malus finds that the entire local community deny any knowledge of the missing Rowan. They do, however admit to having a Sister Willow living on the island and they point him in the right direction to find her. The inhabitants of Summersisle live a very different life than that to which Malus is used to. The population is almost entirely female, with any males that are present on the island being totally subservient to the women, and everyone on the island being accountable to Sister Summersisle. Summersisle has neither gas nor electricity and the islanders live off the land. Honey is the main produce and so there are a lot of hives on the island. Strangely enough, Malus just happens to be allergic to bee stings, but fortunately, he has a kit with him, to help counteract the effect should he get stung. The island setting of this film is truly beautiful and the house where Sister Summersisle lives is extremely picturesque. If the islanders ever needed to send a post card that would be the picture to put on it. The setting is one of the few redeeming features of the film, but it is hard for me to put my finger on exactly what it is that doesn't work about the film. One thing though, is Cage's portrayal of the Cop Malus. He comes across as being much too aggressive. Malus has every reason to get angry at the behaviour exhibited by the islanders, but the way he rants and raves at the ladies and tells them to "Stay out of the fucking way!" (and in front of the children too) is a little over the top. The aggression is overacted and just doesn't ring true. Especially not from a cop, who is also supposed to be a nice guy. I have seen the original Wicker Man several times and it is one of my all time favourite films. Both films are based on the same book Ritual by David Pinner and there are a lot of very good actors in this the remake. For whatever reason though, this one doesn't work. Not for me anyway. Creepiest thing in the film? The two old, blind ladies who are twins and are seem to talk in stereo. If you do watch this film, watch out for them.
CAST Nicolas
Cage ... Edward Malus Diane
Delano ... Sister Beech Tania
Saulnier ... Attendant #1 Simon
Longmore ... Village Male #1 James
Franco ... Bar Guy #1
DVD Information:
Audio Dolby Digital
5.1 Aspect Ratio 16:9
Widescreen/Colour Run Time 97 Minutes
(approx) Language English Hearing Impaired English Subtitles English
Special Features: Audio Commentary by director Neil LaBute, Producer Norm Golightly and Editor Joel Plotch. |
