We should probably get this out of the way first; 2006’s The Wicker Man is awful. It’s comfortably one of the worst remakes there’s ever going to be, and the tone veers so wildly all over the place from scene to scene that first-time viewers may be left wondering what the hell is supposed to be going on. However, was that the point all along?
When the new spin on the 1973 classic was first unleashed upon the unsuspecting masses, nobody was sure what to make of it, besides the fact it was horrendously bad. Shunned by critics, ignored by audiences, and nominated for five Razzies doesn’t sound like the reputation befitting of cinematic excellence, but the actual merits of The Wicker Man are entirely dependent on whether or not you want to believe Nicolas Cage.
Ever since The Wicker Man was first torn to shreds, the memeworthy star has been increasingly adamant that he and director Neil LaBute intentionally set out to make an absurdist comedy, which is easy to understand when he’s screaming so passionately about the bees and punching a woman in the face while dressed in a head-to-toe bear costume.
On the other side of the coin, Redditors currently find themselves locked in debate as to whether or not it was always supposed to be that way, or if Cage suddenly decided to spin the disastrous reception to his favor. If you buy into the former, then The Wicker Man suddenly becomes a misunderstood masterpiece of avant-garde insanity, with two maverick creatives taking $40 million of Warner Bros.’ money to secretly make an intentionally repellent motion picture without telling anyone what they were planning.
If you don’t think it was deliberate… well, then The Wicker Man just sucks, plain and simple.