The Wicker Tree

2011
R
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

3.8/10

YOUR RATING

When two young missionaries head to Scotland, they are initially charmed by their engaging baron Sir Lachlan Morrison and agree to become the local Queen of the May and Laddie for the annual Tressock town festival. But the couple is not prepared for the frightening consequences of their decision and the very disturbing secrets they are about to discover about TressockÂ’s seemingly friendly townspeople.

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Dark Comedy Folk Horror Supernatural Horror Drama Horror

Charmed by the residents of Tressock, Scotland, two young missionaries accept the invitation to participate in a local festival, fully unaware of the consequences of their decision.Charmed by the residents of Tressock, Scotland, two young missionaries accept the invitation to participate in a local festival, fully unaware of the consequences of their decision.Charmed by the residents of Tressock, Scotland, two young missionaries accept the invitation to participate in a local festival, fully unaware of the consequences of their decision.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

3.8/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Robin Hardy had originally written the part of Sir Lachlan Morrison for Sir Christopher Lee. However, while filming The Resident (2011), Lee injured his back after tripping over power cables on set. Although extremely disappointed, Hardy cast the actor who was originally playing Beame, Graham McTavish in Lee's role, with actor Clive Russell taking over the part of Beame. Still wanting to include Lee, Hardy quickly wrote a cameo role for him. He appeared as Sir Lachlan's mentor in a flashback.

Goofs
When Steve is laying in bed his shorts are white with red and blue plaid pattern. When we see him through the eyes of the raven, they are dark blue overall, and after the raven leaves they are back to the red, blue and white plaid shorts.

Quotes
Steve Thomson: [coming across Lolly bathing in a spring naked] You want me to come in?
[she nods]
Steve Thomson: [undressing] Oh, what the hell? Sulis, ain't that some kind of goddess?
Lolly: How did you know that?
Steve Thomson: I saw her on the front of Lachlan's vehicle. She's cute.
Lolly: I'm glad you approved of her. I posed for the wee statue. It was a great honor. This is Sulis's sacred spring.
Steve Thomson: [wading into the water] Wow, Sulis. You gotta be kidding me about this. This is just some warm water, right?
Lolly: You believe a certain virgin had a baby, don't you? Why can't you believe, like I do, that this water has a holy power?
Steve Thomson: I believe whatever's written in the Bible, Lolly. That's holy writ.
Lolly: Come on, Steve. It'll make you feel out of this world. Are you thinking about Beth? I can let you into a secret. Lachlan wants her to be the May Queen. I think he might like you to be the Laddie. Would you go for that?
Steve Thomson: What's the Laddie?
Lolly: The Laddie? You've not heard tell of the Laddie? He is the brightest and best, the handsomest, the kindest, the goodest, perhaps the best rider. I have known him to be the best lover.

Connections
Featured in Diminishing Returns: May Day Special(?): The Wicker Man (2021)

Soundtracks
Follow Me
Lyrics by Malcolm Dudley Hillier
Music by John Scott
Arranged by John Scott
Performed by Brittania Nicol and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Produced by John Scott
Courtesy of JOS Records

User reviews64

Review

Featured review

3/10

Sometimes, dead is better.

Admittedly, you could have taken a 6 inch brush and coloured me sceptical for this one. I am a huge fan of the original Wicker Man (less so of the Nicolas Cage version) and so it was with apprehension and doubt that I ventured into this sequel of sorts. The one saving grace may have been the close involvement of Robin Hardy, the original author and director of the Christopher Lee classic.

Lee was pencilled in to star in this movie but unfortunately health problems excluded him from doing so, his appearance is stripped down to a very incidental flashback scene, yet his name still rides high in the opening credits. This is only the first disappointment that you will experience when it comes to The Wicker Tree.

It is essential to be fair and state that it is far from the worst horror movie you will see this year, as it has a certain amount of redeeming features. The problem is the unfortunate fact that it will always have to stand comparison to the original, a movie which has cemented itself as an indisputable classic.

One of the primary difficulties which The Wicker Tree stumbles to overcome is the overall tone of the movie. It can't seem to decide whether it's a knowing and acerbic in-joke, a serious thriller or a humorous homage to its predecessor. This is one of the main reasons that it fails to have any definite resonance with the viewer, although it doesn't make it difficult to watch. There are some beautifully composed shots of the unforgiving Scottish countryside and a particularly handsome raven, but there's so little going on under the surface that it quickly becomes the equivalent of a rushed meal at a fast food restaurant, complete with the subsequent guilt, nausea and comedown.

The American leads are satisfactory in that all they have to do is play vacuous Evangelist Christians, sent over on a mission to the remote Scottish village. The villagers are played for comic relief rather than any form or actual menace and so the inevitable 'scene' that we're all waiting for the entire movie is played out like a community centre theatrical production of The Wicker Man, only with a slightly bigger budget and more actors.

If you're a Hardy obsessive, by all means give it a shot. If you're unfamiliar with the movie's origins, you'll probably get a few laughs out of it, but that's hardly what one would expect when a story comes from such good original stock. A missed opportunity.

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