Nic Cage November: The Wicker Man

This is a movie that has been memed to death and in its own sort of way has become a Nicolas Cage must-see.

The Wicker Man is a 2006 movie directed by Neil LaBute and is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name. The plot follows a police officer named Edward who travels to a secluded island searching for a missing girl. Once there though, weird things start to occur leading Edward to uncover ritualistic secrets.

The original film is filled with true terror and tension. You always get the feeling that something is not quite right, and it is obvious why it is still regarded as a horror classic many decades later. This remake on the other hand does not have much going for it. It has no tension whatsoever. It is not scary. It is poorly written and very confusing. Not confusing in the way that you won’t be able to follow the plot. It is confusing in the way that it will make you question character choices every single second.

The thing that turns this movie around though is the Cage man himself. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a bad movie. Cage is able to make it sooooo bad that it is such a fun bonkers viewing experience. If Face/Off is one of Cage’s best performances for being crazy, The Wicker Man is one of his strongest. In Face/Off it makes sense that Cage would be unhinged, He is a psychopathic terrorist. In this movie, he is only a cop trying to solve a case. He starts off as a friendly awkward man and winds up punching everyone in the face by the end.

The movie is well-shot and has talented people surrounding it. LaBute has made some good things before such as Nurse Betty and In the Company of Men. The cast also includes veterans Frances Conroy and Ellen Burstyn. It really is remarkable how we got this mess.

For a horror film, the scares are pretty nonexistent, and when Cage isn’t on screen the movie can be dull. There is random imagery that I feel is supposed to come off as creepy but it just makes me laugh. There is a scene of Nicolas Cage seeing a woman sitting in a chair, covered in bees and smiling at him. That could be scary….maybe…no it isn’t.

Cage is the only thing worth it in this movie. He has multiple unintentionally hilarious scenes. We get to see him verbally abusing residents out of nowhere. We see him wearing a bear suit while punching a confused woman. We get to see the infamous bee scene where Cage screams there are bees in his eyes when there are absolutely no bees in his eyes.

Overall, The Wicker Man is an unintentionally hilarious question mark of a film that is only worth viewing to see how bizarre it truly is. If anything, it only adds to the legend of the man that Cage is.

Some of Nicolas Cage’s best lines in The Wicker Man include:

“What’s in the bag? A shark, or something?”

“How’d it get burned? HOW’D IT GET BURNED? HOW’D IT GET BURNED??”

“Killing me won’t bring back your goddamn honey”

“Bitches. You bitches.”

“OH, NO. NOT THE BEES. NOT THE BEES. AAAAAHHHHH. OH, THEY’RE IN MY EYES. MY EYES. AAAAHHHHH. AAAAAGGHHH.”


About Martin Maruri

Martin Maruri is an avid fan of pop culture and movie trivia. In his spare time, Martin loves to watch horror movies, watch baseball and spend time with his lovely girlfriend. P.S...He also loves spending time with his French Bulldog named Tobin.

View all posts by Martin Maruri

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