Il prescelto

Anyone not aware of the 1973 original British Lion movie ' The Wicker Man' would,no doubt, have left the cinema with the impression 'Poor' and 'Peurile'.

As a devotee of the original I left with the impression Purely Poor.

From the grim reality of haggle toothed inbreds drawing the force of law and order into a web of paganistic barbaric ritual on a remote Scottish island, named Summerisle(the original) to a near Amazon-ic colony off the Maine coast of the US, named Summersisle, the remake hardly hits the spot.

This is, quite sadly, a case of what 'could' have been a classic remake of a classic being tampered with to cater for a simple minded public. NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS.

Gentlemen (or given the reworked context of the film) Ladies involved ... hang your heads in shame.

Don't let the premise fool you--this was one funny movie. The problem--it wasn't supposed to be a comedy. The story sets you up nicely for an ending that never comes. Even worse, the set-up is NEVER explained. You will leave the theater asking "Is that it?" I rate it a 2 simply because there were a few brief moments of promise, but the finish leaves you completely flat. Nicholas Cage did as good a job as can be expected in the role, but he had very little to work with. There are odd quirks, and interesting turns everywhere, which had absolutely nothing to do with the movie. Let this one come out on video before wasting your money.

When you haven't seen the original and you think why all the hate for this movie...?

Ignore it because if you haven't watched it then you have nothing to compare it to. As a standalone movie away from the original its a good movie and will leave you entertained for its duration.

If you have seen the original its 100% superior to this nicholas cage version but that movie was groundbreaking for its time and people seem to forget that, we have had so many movies since then with simular ideas and a remake of that great Britisch horror movie with an American cast was always going to be an issue,not to talk about anyone who has seen the original knows what to expect because this is very simular in how the story unfolds so in a way your at a disadvantage starting the movie because you most definitely will start comparing from the beginning, but nonetheless this movie is far from terrible as people make it out to be.

Watch it with an open mind and you will see its a very decent thriller.

As a horror movie, its a 1 out of 10, but as a Comedy, its at least an 8 out of 10. Nicolas Cage's character had me in stitches in so many places, because his acting in this movie is SO bad its hilarious! The last 30 minutes of the movie is pure gold! He punches women constantly, can't figure out people are lying to him, threatens kids, attacks in a bear suit, and has so many unintentionally funny one-liner quotes its just ridiculous, such as "HOWDIDITGETBURNED", "NO! NOT THE BEES!", and "Killing me won't bring back your goddamn honey!". Hell, even the ending of the movie was funny somehow! I saw this at the cinema too, and the audience were laughing as well! It's totally worth buying on DVD as its dirt cheap now.

Ironically though, the "Director's Cut" is supposed to make it more horror-like, but it actually makes the movie even funnier! In conclusion, its a 'classic' for the wrong reasons!

A bad movie is a bad movie but a bad remake is something else entirely. This film doesn't just do a bad job of retelling the original story it takes everything that was good about it and replaces it with a witless and disjointed story.

Nicolas Cage is well cast as a man addicted to some kind of over the counter drugs. I was sick to death of his muttering and dopey face within about five minutes, you might find his routine wearing thin a little faster or slower depending on your tolerance. I think he might have done a little too much preparation for his role. Watching Nicolas Cage mumble his way through the script is quite painful at times, like seeing an elderly dog trying to chase a postman on arthritic legs and not understanding why he can't quite do it anymore.

The original story was quite chilling but here it's all kind of a joke. There's something really repulsive about a director remaking a film when they clearly haven't taken the time to understand the original. The plot is weaker than you would believe without seeing it and the whole war of the sexes thing is just not interesting. The director of this film should be forcibly prevented from remaking any more films, this film is a big fat insult to a classic movie and a sign of how cynical and artless Hollywood has become. Sad times.