The Wicker Man – Film Review

Few movies are as unintentionally hilarious as Neil LaBute‘s 2006 remake of The Wicker Man is. This is a movie that’s supposed to be deeply unnerving, terrifying, eerie, and suspenseful, but it’s absolutely none of those things. Instead, what we are treated to is a one-hundred-and-two-minute comedy.

Is The Wicker Man an awful movie? Absolutely. There’s certainly no question about it. But is it one of the funniest movies ever made? Honestly… yes. The script from LaBute is a thing of pure beauty. The lines written for this film are already awful enough as is, but watching Nicolas Cage say them out loud in this film is the cherry on top.

We all know by now that Cage is one of the most famous actors on the planet, mainly because he always freaks out in nearly every one of his movies. Well, The Wicker Man is one of his most iconic movies and it’s not hard to see why. Although it’s a fairly short film, there are dozens of scenes sprinkled throughout where Cage goes nuts and it’s hilarious to behold.

The most famous scene of the bunch easily has to be the scene in which Cage gets swarmed by a horde of bees, at which point he hilariously exclaims “Not the bees!” It’s one of the most memorable scenes in Cage’s filmography, and to this day, it seems as if nobody is quite sure how this scene got approved.

Wasn’t there anyone on set that day that felt that the scene was a little off? It’s not just Cage’s delivery, either. It’s just an outrageously stupid line that comes completely out of left field. It’s supposed to show how terrified Cage’s character Edward Malus is, but instead, it just makes us all laugh hysterically, much like the rest of the movie.

This whole project is even funnier when you consider just how intense the marketing push was to make this movie seem as if it was going to be the most terrifying movie ever made. The poster even comes complete with an ominous tagline that reads “Some sacrifices must be made.” If you watch The Wicker Man, you’ll have to sacrifice your sanity.

The Wicker Man is an unintentionally hilarious horror film thanks to a poor script from Neil LaBute, that’s made even more hysterical due to Nicolas Cage’s wild performance.