Christopher Lee's acting career brought audiences many iconic movies, like The Wicker Man. Still, he was not impressed when Nicolas Cage starred in The Wicker Man remake, and Lee referred to the situation as "pretty desperate." Christopher Lee played some iconic villains throughout his career, and while fantasy fans might know him best as Saruman in Lord of the Rings, he also played Count Dracula many times. That said, of all the great Christopher Lee horror movies that aren't about Dracula, the 1973 folk horror The Wicker Man is one of his best.
In The Wicker Man, police officer Neil Howie is summoned to an island where a young girl has disappeared. In the original, Lee played Lord Summerisle, the pagan ruler of the island's population, while Edward Woodward played Howie. In the remake, the police officer is renamed and played by Nicolas Cage. The Wicker Man's horrifying ending is infamous, and it is similar in both the original and the remake. Still, the remake was critically panned, with a 15% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Nicolas Cage's movie could be so bad that it's good, but Christopher Lee did not agree.
Christopher Lee Didn't Think The Wicker Man Should Be Remade
The Wicker Man Still Influences Modern Horror Movies, While The Remake Inspired Mocking Memes
Christopher Lee felt that The Wicker Man was his best movie, even comparing it to Citizen Kane in terms of its effect on the world. He was not wrong, as The Wicker Man has inspired a heavy metal song, several festivals, and many other horror movies, including Florence Pugh's folk horror, Midsommar. After such success, it is not surprising that Lee had strong feelings about the remake. He told the Scottish Daily Record, "They all seem pretty desperate in the film and television world... to remake a movie with such history and success just doesn't make sense to me."
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The Wicker Man's influence can be seen in many of the best folk horror movies. The best example is Midsommar, which, like The Wicker Man, comes to a shocking and brutal end with a fire and a human sacrifice. That said, Nicolas Cage's remake did not have the cinematic impact of Christopher Lee's movie. This is partly because The Wicker Man's ending would not shock people who had seen the original, and partly because the script was terrible. The Wicker Man remake was so bad that its cultural impact lay mostly in memes, including the infamous "not the bees" line.
Christopher Lee's Wicker Man Remake Criticism Was Justified
Nicolas Cage Says That The Wicker Man Remake Was Misunderstood
Christopher Lee was right that The Wicker Man did not need to be remade, as the original movie is a cult classic, and Nicolas Cage's remake of The Wicker Man did not bring anything new to the story. The lead character's name was changed, Lord Summerisle became Sister Summerisle, and the background of the cult was altered to reflect an American setting. However, these changes were not enough to make the movie stand out, and the most drastic change was the most confusing. Nicolas Cage's remake often felt like a comedy or parody, while the original provoked constant creeping dread.
|
Title |
Date |
Budget |
Box Office |
Rotten Tomatoes critics' score |
Rotten Tomatoes audience score |
|
The Wicker Man |
1973 |
£485,000 |
$475.661 million |
91% |
82% |
|
The Wicker Man |
2006 |
$40 million |
$38.8 million |
15% |
17% |
The remake of The Wicker Man has been ridiculed and memed so much that Cage eventually spoke out to defend it. According to the actor himself, Nicolas Cage's The Wicker Man was supposed to be a comedy. Cage explained that his version of The Wicker Man had been misunderstood by both audiences and critics, who had assumed that the humor was unintentional. As Christopher Lee had also said that he doesn't mind follow-ups and significant changes to movies, he may have preferred the remake if Nicolas Cage had leaned fully into comedy in The Wicker Man.
Source: Scottish Daily Record (via The Free Library)
The Wicker Man
Release Date August 31, 2006
Runtime 102 Minutes
Director Neil LaBute
Writers Neil LaBute
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Ellen Burstyn
Edward Malus
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English (US) ·