Despite its fame and reputation, I’d never seen either the 1973 British original, or the 2006 Hollywood remake of ‘The Wicker Man’.
I’ve put that right over the last month, having finally got around to getting a copy of the Hollywood version over the Christmas break. According to reviews this is the weaker of the two films, but I think it’s still worth a watch.
The general premise just about stands together if you can suspend belief a little, although the plot itself has more holes than a sieve. I was able to ignore that, and the clichéd dialogue, and the unintentional humour (which reviewers also picked up on), to sit back and simply enjoy it.
A lot of horror staples are thrown in – some unnecessarily and without adding to the plot – such as ravens turning up unexpected and unannounced, and the stereotypically unfriendly locals. That just added to the fun, though.
The film isn’t particularly scary, although the suspense and climax place it firmly in the horror genre. Because of the lack of scares, and because it throws in a lot of horror elements, this film might be a good, gentle introduction for anyone wanting to try horror for the first time, but who is scared of being…well…scared.
I give ‘The Wicker Man’ (Hollywood version) three out of five.
