In the first few minutes of the film, Nicholas Cage is convincing as the police officer recovering from the traumatic failed rescue. He keeps having hallucinations, or thinks he does, and pops pills to suppress them. But once he arrives on the island he spends most of his time stumbling around in an angry sort of funk, yelling at various women who smile at him in a knowing way as they refuse to give up any information. He runs or trots or walks up and down the roads and paths of the island, breaks into houses, descends into holes, rides a bicycle, swims, and explores an old barn. He never changes the suit he wears. He never seems to catch on. Nicholas Cage is a great actor given the right part. This is not the right part.
The Wicker Man offers all the usual hints and clues and portents of horror films — lost clothing, forbidden rooms, nightmares, cackling crows, disfigured bodies, disfigured people, a beautiful and tormented woman, lies, deceit, fear, hiding places, holes in the ground that lead to danger, clues that mount up and lead towards an inevitable conclusion. There is the standard shocking reversal near the end of the film that turns everything on its head, though anyone who watches this film with any care will catch on long before the surprise reveals itself. And there is the concluding scene that assures the final horror’s perpetuation.
In a rather systematic way the iconography of this film presents nature worship, feminists, and pagan religions as all wrapped up in an anti-male, anti-Christian, anti-tradition, anti-Western World cabal. The penultimate scene certainly supports this notion. Towards the end, Edward Malus violently slugs several women who, he suspects, are about to take part in a terrible crime — beyond the issue of the crime, what point is the film making here about women who don’t know their place?
What this film shows about pagan religions such as Wicca is exactly what many right-wing fundamentalist Christians want to believe: that they are demented, tree-hugging, anti-Christian, men-hating subversives. All the women characters are named for plants: Sister Rose, Sister Thorn, Dr. Moss, Rowan, Sister Willow; Sister Beech. They take part in fertility rites and harvest rituals. They figuratively if not actually emasculated men never speak or assert themselves or respond to Edward’s calls for help. The women refer to the men as drones.
Article comments
1 - Happy
I'm so glad I found a review that supports my feeling of the film! This film is so anti-feminist it scares me (being a woman). I'm not a feminist myself, but I also hate films or people that shout, "Look what happens if women rule the world!!"
Being bothered by this so much, I have to check the original film to see if this is really the hidden meaning. By having Christopher Lee as Lord Summerilse and the producer's anti-woman portrayal in his other films, maybe this is his own spices added in.
I have to agree that the film is bad taste, but the storyline overall still bothers me so much that I don't think I want to watch the original even if I have the chance.
2 - joe momma
i gotta hand this movie 2 thumbs up the directors ass. i was so abhorrently traumatized by this movie that it directly affected my sex life in a very negative way. i had to find somewhere to go and lay down some serious hate for this movie. id like to find someone to sue for putting together trash of this nature. i feel traumatized after watching that movie, being a man. that movie was mental abuse for men.
i am no christian, nor a pagan. i am a simple athiest. this movie will warp the minds of the weak in a sad way.
the real horror of this movie: it is unfortunate that our society has such a hard time distinguishing reality from television. i love a good horror film. but this was a pathetic attempt at best. the only horrifying thing that comes to my mind is all the lame brain cable tv watchers that might agree with some aspect of this film.
to the women who felt empowered by this film... a big dunce hat for all of you.
man and woman are alike and equal, balanced and proportioned in all aspects. on an individual level there are bound to be differences but those differences are what make men and women a good team, when devoted to eachother. equality is a good thing. im always in favor of women's liberation...especially when its not in their favor ;).
warren-g called sommer isle, he said hes on his way with snoop, ice-t, easy-e, 50 cent and all the pimpin posse to throw down and regulate those biatches with some good ol' fashioned bitch shut the fuck up until its time for you to do something productive. "re-productive".
ok i feel better now.
no wait... ,,!,, dude. how could you commit such an act of treason on your own kind?
3 - Nigel Thorn Rose Tree
All i have to say is watch the original, it rules and apparently the original print was buried under a british motorway????
4 - Petee
I think this is a great film and acts as a warning about the concentration of power in the hands of a small sector. In this case, yes, females or feminists. Why do some women find this such a difficult concept? Women have great capacity for evil too. To believe the "sugar and spice and all things nice" mantra is very childish.