| Overall Grade: |
C- |
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| Story: |
C- |
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| Acting: |
B- |
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| Direction: |
C- |
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| Visuals: |
C- |
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THE DISAPPOINTING MAN
by PO'D (movies profile)
May 19, 2007
133
of
152 people found this review helpful
It's as if the writer and director withdrew all of the wit, character, creepiness and soul out of the outstanding original film and handed us some leftover, stale crumbs instead. What made this premise fascinating was the use of Paganism (those images used in the original, that is)...by that, I mean all of the locals were unique and colorful, and yes, heathenous characters. They took out the music (big HUGE mistake...the music was a character itself in the original) and all of the bawdy, lusty sexual images and blatant innuendoes of the original. Since the story takes place on the eve of Beltane (May Day) and ends on May Day itself, the images and talk of sex is absolutely essential in the telling of this very strange story of Ritual Pagan Sacrifice. You will, however, find NONE of this here, in this watered down, Hollywoodized (and sodomized) version of the story. Bland as dry wheat, and just as boring. With the talent involved, this movie should have been MUCH better. Ellen Burstyn manages to rise above the flavorless script, and her moments are unfortunately the only ones worth savoring in the entire movie. PLEASE do yourself a favor and forget about this version of the film...and RUN, STAMPEDE to the Video Store and rent the ORIGINAL WICKER MAN, which was made in 1973 by people who knew (and cared about) what they were doing. You won't be sorry, as the original is a bonafide MASTERPIECE of Horror Cinema!!! This one? Needs to be sacrificed to the Gods of Tepid Remakes as a primary example of WHY? WHY??????? WHY BOTHER???????? |
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