The Wicker Tree (2011)

Robin Hardy shopped around the seed of an idea for a sequel to his seminal seventies horror film The Wicker Man for many years before finally settling on an idea called Cowboys for Christ, which he first wrote and published as a novel in order to drum up interest in and funding for a film adaptation, which would be called The Wicker Tree. Considered more of a spiritual sequel than a true chronological one (though it's matter of debate in either case,) The Wicker Tree attempts to play around with familiar ideas and storytelling devices while also adding enough new material to justify itself as a standalone film, and whether it succeeds or not is quite hard to say. Critical reviews at the time were mostly critical and downright dismissive, concurring with audience and fan reaction. In my opinion, this is far from the worst thing that Hardy could have done in attempting to follow up a near-perfect horror film, but the relationship of this movie to its sister film makes it quite hard to determine just how worthy it is of a horror fan's time. Is it possible the connection to The Wicker Man complicates the simple question of "Was it entertaining?" It's hard to say, but despite everything, I find myself on firmly in The Wicker Tree's camp. I mean, at least it gives us something to talk about and takes chances with its material, which is nice is this day and age. And it's not even a direct retread of the original, with this film taking place in a new location and with entirely new people and new beliefs.

Anyway, let's just break up our routine here and start with any and all negatives, because those are the things you're likely to be most interested in and also to hear elsewhere in just about any review you come across. First off, the story and its characters. Hardy clearly isn't a fan of Christianity, but while Sergeant Howie came across as more than a little absurd as an authority figure when separated from civilization and molested by local harlots, he was at least a genuine human character with depth and motivation and most of all, agency. Here, our Christian characters are drawn to be so moronic as to be almost insulting even to those who no longer practice (me.) The few early moments where the film stops to highlight something Hardy doesn't like about Christianity feel especially strawman-y and, above all, incorrect (Good luck finding many Christians who believe that newborn babies who aren't baptized go to hell when they die. They believe that being on the hook for being a believer only comes when self-awareness begins and the choice can be made.) 

At one point early on, our leads are split up forcefully by what are at that point a bunch of strangers acting very suspiciously, but our characters don't act put out at all, despite not knowing any of these people and being stranded in a foreign country. And then there's the cult itself, which is far more straight-up evil this time around, with their head being a man of industry who has sold his town's soul to make a buck and is only using religion to cover his ass; a far cry from Lord Summerisle in the original, who, despite a few jabs early in the Final Cut towards Howie's faith, seemed to genuinely be in awe of him, his faith, and most of all, his restraint. His final words to him even seemed to be an attempt to bring him comfort in his dying moments, though he is still unambiguously a murderer. There is nothing that morally interesting to be found in this much simpler film.

Another smaller problem is the film's few scenes of dense exposition. This film's big modern twist on the plot of The Wicker Man is all set up and revealed in the space of about ten minutes and then left alone for the rest of the film, and while it comes at the perfect time, the fact that it whizzes by so fast in the form of hastily ADR'ed dialog makes it feel desperately scraped-up at the last minute, or even studio-requested. And I kind of hate the Christopher Lee cameo in the film, which presumably means to tie the two films together in a loose way, but only ends up feeling contrived, both the ideas themselves and the way the scene is shoved awkwardly into another, more important scene.

The biggest issue is really just how familiar it feels. The structure is much the same, and while swapping out everything but the bones could work, and frequently does in terms of raw entertainment, it still leads to the whole thing feeling a bit less engaging than it should be. Worst of all, it draws attention to how much worse this film is compared to the iconic original. Scenes like the apocalyptic lighting of the Wicker Tree towards the end have some great stuff going on in them, but they still pale in comparison to similar scenes in the original, and after so many years, you'd think Hardy would have better ideas of how to twist and subvert his old ideas in a way that doesn't feel so clumsy. I also think the ritual, like the ritual in Midsommar, seems a bit convoluted, and nowhere near as easy to understand and plainly horrifying as 'virgin sacrifice to ensure a good harvest.'

Still, despite all of that, I think this film is underappreciated. The vitriol and anger from fans just feels unnecessary and makes me wonder if they've seen the original. This newer film is very faithful: black comedy satire mixes with human cruelty in a mundane setting that makes it all pop, even after all these years. There's an early sex scene that is so trashy and over-the-top, it feels like something out of True Blood, which was definitely a misfire, but generally, the humor is the strongest aspect of this film. The story's idea of mixing industrial influence on the environment with pagan religion feels very cargo-culty and interesting (I just wish the cult leader was ignorant of this, as it seems that it would make the cult more interesting and less evil) and sacrificing virgins for fertility as opposed to a good harvest is also a compelling twist on established conventions. 

Visually and aurally, it's clear that this is a true sequel to The Wicker Man, even if the music isn't quite what it used to be. It's clear that Magnet didn't come back to play any songs this time around, so Hardy had to make due with whomever he could find, and what he was able to quickly round up here is simply no comparison. Visually, however, the film is quite bold and the elaborate camera moves remind you that this isn't something quickly tossed off for a quick buck, for better or worse: this is a work of art, warts and all. 

It's extremely rough around the edges, but I think that's why I kind of find it adorable in its way. In the end, it entertained me for an hour and a half, and when I looked at the review aggregate sites, I was honestly a little shocked it scored so low from so many outlets (though in fairness few reviewed it in the first place.) Don't say I didn't warn you, but if you're a huge, and I mean huge, fan of the O.G. Wicker Man, then perhaps you'd find this film worth exploring. Go in with no expectations except to have a good time, and you'll likely find it a somewhat misunderstood, handsome film about occult sacrifice that also happens to be wickedly funny.