I saw "Wicker Tree" last fall and while I had a good time, the flick is SERIOUSLY wonky. It's as though Robin Hardy went into the venture knowing he wouldn't be able to top the OMG factor of the original and initially trying a very different tack, but eventually found himself pressured back in that direction anyway - perhaps by backers who were paying for a horror film like "Wicker Man" and wanted same? I'm guessing, of course.
When the climax happens it seems like someone didn't want the thing to become too "icky", which I can understand and while I'm the farthest thing from a gore-hound, had he gone for broke with the final sequences it might have snapped the fascinating tonal wavering of the rest of the movie into focus. It might've knocked the audience, who would've been just getting used to the black comedy vibe the rest of the film presents, completely sideways had Hardy really "gone for it" as opposed to never quite committing to either the dark comedy or the horror. Maybe. Again, I'm guessing.
I'm glad they're releasing both the songs and the score for this. John Scott is an automatic buy for me but I don't remember as much music from him as the track listing indicates, although that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Seems to me he played the horror-suspense fairly straight in his own inimitable fashion. The two lead kids are evangelical Christians out to convert the heathen Scottish (that the film pulls this off as sympathetically and credibly as it does while maintaining a certain satirical distance at the same time is quite a trick, I think) so she sings some stuff which is nicely set against the more old world surroundings in which she and her dude find themselves. Not sure how this stuff will play out of context for someone unfamiliar with the movie, but most of this crowd probably won't play the songs in any case, will they?
Wow, I kinda went on a bit, didn't I? Anyway, obviously I'm looking forward to this.
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