The Wicker Man: Critic Reviews

The whole thing is transparently a concoction, and so even though the movie holds you, its climax lacks that tingle of madness. All that's burning is some sticks.

The Wicker Man is comically inept as a horror movie, unable to even manage an effective false scare, or sustain suspense for more than a beat or two.

This wasn't a horror film the first time around, and LaBute makes sorry feints at effective creepiness.

The '73 film is brilliantly constructed and ends with a punctuation mark that was shocking in its day. LaBute's movie attempts to shock, as well, and does: Given the names involved and the casting of Cage, it is shockingly bad.

The Wicker Man is misconceived, miscast and, where suspense is concerned, thinner than a Katie Couric publicity photo.

The first Wicker Man was about a cult. The remake is more about a dolt.

Yet another needless 're-imagining' of a '70s cult fave that, truth to tell, is better remembered than actually viewed, Neil LaBute's folly follows the basic plot outline of the 1974 Brit horror opus of the same title.

Bracket the summer with this Warner Bros. flop and that opening disaster, Poseidon and you can't help but notice how long it's been since Warners did anything worth noting that wasn't a remake.

It is perhaps a tad unreasonable to recommend that actor Nicolas Cage and writer/director Neil LaBute be burned at the stake for what they've done to The Wicker Man, that most British of cult movies.

Despite retaining significant chunks of Shaffer's dialogue to go along with the basic story structure, LaBute has transformed the eerie, disturbing psychological thriller into an unintentional comedy.

Far more ambitious and stylish than most of today's horror crop, Neil LaBute's remake of the 1973 U.K. cult classic The Wicker Man unfortunately still falls far short of its mark.

It's never as scary or suspenseful as it aspires to be, but it might just be the greatest bad movie of the year, with its clunky writing resulting in some surprisingly entertaining kooky moments.

LaBute's remake is an interesting idea that never transforms into a particularly satisfying movie.

When The Wicker Man offers more laughs than Talladega Nights, it might be a sign for the auteur to switch brands to comedy

Nicolas Cage gives the worst performance of his career opposite Kate Beahen in this useless update of Robin Hardy's far creepier 1973 original suspense movie based on Anthony Shaffer's novel.

This new version is boring, nonsensical, forgettable, and just a ninety minute episode of "CSI"...

...there's just something inherently entertaining about watching [Nicolas Cage] one-up himself every few minutes...

In the final act of The Wicker Man, when Nicolas Cage has donned a bear suit, you have to wonder just what it is you're watching.