Rent The Wicker Tree (2011)
2.3 of 5 from 75 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A young Texas couple (Brittania Nicol and Henry Garrett) travel to the Scottish lowlands to spread the gospel throughout a rural community. But instead of sharing the pleasures of heaven, they will discover a nightmare of sexual temptation and unholy terror. Graham McTavish and Honeysuckle Weeks co-star in this disturbing new exploration of faith, fear and the ultimate pagan sacrifice.
- Actors:
- Brittania Nicol, Henry Garrett, Graham McTavish, Jacqueline Leonard, Honeysuckle Weeks, Clive Russell, Prue Clarke, Lesley Mackie, David Plimmer, Christopher Lee, Astrid Azurdia, Alessandro Conetta, Keith Easdale, Christopher Fosh, Stuart Glasgow, Scott Hoatson, Jarkko Lehmus, St. Clair Leveaux, Ailidh Mackay, James Mapes
- Directors:
- Robin Hardy
- Producers:
- Peter Snell, Peter Watson-Wood
- Writers:
- Robin Hardy
- Aka:
- Cowboys for Christ / May Day / The Riding of the Laddie
- Studio:
- Anchor Bay
- Genres:
- Horror
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like: The Wicker Man, Films to Watch If You Like...
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 30/04/2012
- Run Time:
- 92 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- The Making of 'The Wicker Tree'
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailer
More like The Wicker Tree
Found in these customers lists
501 films by history-light
Reviews (1) of The Wicker Tree
Better than I expected - The Wicker Tree review by sb
FILM & REVIEW Robin Hardy’s much maligned sequel to his 1973 classic which I found to be a lot better than I expected. This time two naive born again Christian’s (Beth and Steve) are send from Dallas to convert the heathens of Scotland. She is a evangelical singer who used to be a much raunchier act and they have taken the silver rings of purity until marriage . She seems fine with abstinence but Steve is struggling. After spreading the word of Jesus falls on deaf ears in Glasgow they are transported by a local laird Sir Lachlan to a remote village - and when he turns to his partner Delia and says “they are prefect - this time it will work” you know where we are headed…. Beth feels that the word of Jesus is better received here and agrees to be the May Queen without realising the consequences while Steve is led astray by a local horny groom (Honeysuckle Weeks from Foyle’s War minus clothes in several scenes). The scene is set for their appointments…. To add a modern twist Sir Lachlan runs a local nuclear power station which a few years ago suffered an accident rendering all the locals infertile so this time it’s not just a crop failure. It can drift into silliness at times and the two leads are less than ideal but overall it’s an effective take with some quite nasty twists….add in a cameo from Christopher Lee and i do feel it doesn’t deserve all the manure that was thrown it it. And it’s better than the Nic Cage remake …..by a long chalk….4/5
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
The Wicker Tree (aka Cowboys for Christ / May Day / The Riding of the Laddie) review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso
From the director of the original 1970’s cult hit The Wicker Man comes this pseudo-sequel, The Wicker Tree that modernizes the original story by replacing the uptight Episcopalian character played by Edward Woodward with the young and perky Texan Evangelical Christian Beth Boothby (Brittania Nichol); the gospel singing young missionary who travels to Scotland to bring Christianity to the locals.
The story is based on a novel originally written by director Robin Hardy, titled Cowboys for Christ; and is the first work to come from Hardy since the mid eighties. Yet the movie has a surprising amount of guts that I genuinely didn’t expect in what is essentially a remake from an 82 year old man. In many places I found the film was a pleasant surprise.
Despite telling what is essentially the same story as the original The Wicker Tree takes quite a different tact than it’s predecessor; it takes a much more humorous and satirical approach to the same themes as The Wicker Man – almost as though updating it for a new, younger audience.
The Wicker Tree lacks The Wicker Man’s intensity and much of its horror, but it has a knowing, self reflecting quality that is likely to appeal to many new viewers. Though has nothing on the original cult classic, The Wicker Tree has it’s own charm and is reasonably interesting and enjoyable.