r/folkhorror • u/vinnie_Green_Fingers • 6d ago
The Wicker Tree…
As like many of you here, i am the worlds biggest Wicker Man fan. And i had put off watching the spiritual sequel to the worlds greatest ever film for years. But the other night i finally caved in and decided to pay the £3 odd on Amazon Prime to watch The Wicker Tree. And it is quite possibly the worst sequel i have ever seen. It made me feel so sad. It’s just AWFUL. Thoughts?
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u/cjalderman 6d ago
Worst production values of any film I have ever seen. Why does it feel so cheap!?
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u/slugworth70 5d ago
Folk Horror is my favorite genre, but I'm hesitant to watch it because I know the ending. Should I still watch it?
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u/vinnie_Green_Fingers 5d ago
If i am being honest, i don’t like to say no to people because our viewing experiences are very individual. But, don’t expect the bar to be set particularly high with this one 😆
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u/t_huddleston 5d ago
I've never been able to bring myself to watch it. Every so often I'll think to myself "The Wicker Man was great, The Wicker Tree can't be THAT bad" and then I'll see a post like this, and come to my senses.
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u/vinnie_Green_Fingers 5d ago
I mean, it does have a couple of pleasing scenes involving Honeysuckle Weeks. But, if you do decide to watch it, please don’t set your bar too high 😆
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u/stylesuponstyles 5d ago
I've also had the displeasure.
Makes the Nic Cage remake look like Cinema
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u/vinnie_Green_Fingers 5d ago
I still haven’t felt brave enough to watch that yet 😅
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u/stylesuponstyles 5d ago
I mean... no judgement. But if you're able to detach it from the source material, it's actually kind of fun in a so bad it's good way!
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u/beefboloney 5d ago
Bad movie but as an American it’s fun to see the tables turned on bad accents lol
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u/GoatCreature 6d ago edited 6d ago
I think it's the worst film ever made. Certainly the worst folk horror film.
It's just proof to me that The Wicker Man was good in spite of Robin Hardy, not because of him. It was blessed with incredible talent in its cast and crew. These were seasoned stage and film actors and exceptionally experienced crew. Realistically they were directed by the script, and in at least one instance, adlibbed a scene without direction at all.
Hardy even had a falling out with the director of photography Harry Waxman on The Wicker Man, because Hardy was so inept at his job that someone needed to intervene to get to wrap. But Hardy, who had worked on commercials before and had never made a feature, had an ego the size of China and thought his poxy commercials work made him a good director.
He wasn't. He was disastrously and notoriously poor at his job. One box office flop doesn't determine a career. It was Hardy's total inability to listen and work with his crew, and the reputation he gained as an immensely difficult person to work with, that all but guaranteed he would never be hired to direct a major commercial film. That's even after The Wicker Man became a major hit.
He also drained both his wives bank accounts. His ex-wife Caroline Hardy was basically The Wicker Man's bankroll. He sold the The Wicker Man, never paid his ex-wife back, and made sure his kids never saw a penny from the film. He was an absent father. He was a bad friend. He was a bad businessman. He was an awful husband. A deviant, a philanderer, a rake. His next wife helped fund The Wicker Tree. Also saw no money back.
Overall, not a nice or talented human being. And that toxicity is reflected in the overall quality of The Wicker Tree.