Written And Directed by Robin Hardy
Sir Lachlan Morrison (to Steve): "Laddie, you are a prince among men, a king. We all, all salute you. You will give your life so that a new generation of our people will be born blessing your name. Children will be called after you. Hallowed be thy name."
Why yes, I did skip the American remake of The Wicker Man in order to tackle this legacy sequel of sorts first. Don't worry, I will get back to it though at some point this month. Curiosity just got the better of me with this one.
A legacy with two of the original cast members returning and the same writer/director of the first movie? It's pretty unheard of. Does it result in a great follow up? Not really to be honest but I've seen worse.
Our protagonists here are a slightly vapid Christian couple made up of pop singer, Beth Boothby (Brittania Nicol) and her handsome cowboy fiancée, Steve Thompson (Henry Garrett). They've found themselves in Scotland to spread the good word and to get to know the locals. Oh and for their relationship to unravel at the same time.
The locals in questiion include Sir Lachlan Morrison (Graham McTavish) and his wife, Delia (Jacqueline Leonard). It also included local temptress, Lolly (Honeysuckle Weeks) who wasted no time in seducing Steve (it did not take much). Then there was returning Daisy (Lesley Mackie) and gruff butler, Beane (Clive Russell).
In this movie, both Daisy and Beane were tasked with preparing Beth for the May Queen, which turned out to be a trickier task as she had more fight in her than they were prepared for. Steve on the other hand had been set up as the Laddie for the May Festival and it didn't end particularly well for him. He really was too pretty to live.
It didn't exactly end well for Beth either. She might have gotten one good kill in but it didn't stop her from the suffering the same fate as the other May Queens. As for Steve, he may have gotten the worst death in this movie but his legacy lived on through Lolly as the crazy residents got what they really wanted from him.
- Christopher Lee does pop up as Old Gentleman in the movie, though it's not a huge role.
- A third movie had been considered before the passing of Robin Hardy. This film had a limited theatrical release.
- Standout music: Britannia Nicol's Follow Me.
- Chronology: April and May of the current year in both Texas and Glasgow.
I'll admit that The Wicker Tree falls into that category not being great or awful. It's simply just okay in mostly rethreading what the first movie did along with some expansion on the villagers dangerous rituals.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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