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June 07, 2006

The Wicker Man

Remake trailer online.

By Greg

Remakes. That should really be enough said by now, but I think I'll go into a bit more detail on this one. The trailer for the upcoming remake of the 1973 British cult classic The Wicker Man is at Apple HERE. The story appears to at least basically follow that of the original: A cop goes to a small island town looking for a missing girl. He encounters a close nit, seemingly innocent, provincial community. As his investigation moves forward, he gradually suspects that not all is as it seems, realizing only to late that ALL is not as it seems.

To be honest it doesn't look all bad. Also, Anthony Shaffer, the man who wrote the original and the book on which it was based has a writing credit. But why tarnish the original. The Wicker Man is regarded as one of the great horrors (and certainly one of the great British films) of all time. Now people will see this probably mediocre film and already know all the twists and turns that make the original so mindbending, should they ever choose to see it. But that's a tired song by now.

Aside from that I do have some specific criticisms of the new film as it appears in the trailer. For one, the tone seems to be of overt creepiness. Not only is this the standard fair of the day, but one of the greatest strengths of the original is its wistful and easygoing first and second acts. Christopher Lee puts you at easy as the charming leader of the community. To be sure, some damn strange and disconcerting things are seen by hero, but the mood is still one of cautious, routine police work.

This pays off in the seminal moment of the film. In this moment the audience and the hero instantly and simultaneously realize why the film is called The Wicker Man and understand the horror it represents. In the trailer for the remake however, it is clear that the "wicker man" is already hinted at before this point and becomes part of the mystery, taking a lot of the weight out of it.

Another thing is that this film takes place in the U.S., a nation with no history of the pagan celebration of Mayday or the sacrifice of virgins. In addition to adding a great deal to the quirky appeal of the original, setting it in Britain also gave it at least some foundation in believability.

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