send the beast! send him now!

[Thom_Serveaux]

First, thank you for the chin-der wear, but it appears to have been used.  I'm not even going to try to figure out what those stains are...

Devil Dog, those are two good riffs, but I have to advise you that if you have not seen the original Wicker Man to watch it first.  The remake is so mind blastingly awful that when you watch the original all you can think about is the remake.  The original version is a good film, one of the best horror films ever made, and you owe it to yourself to watch it first so that you can be more angry at the Nick Cage film when it is riffed.

that's sage advice, JSG, i've been meaning to see the original for a long time, i'll put it up on the top of my queue, even if it DOES mean i'll have to wait longer to watch the episode of Punky Brewster with the Bee Gees as guest star. netflix is truly a wonderful thing.

While you're at it, you might want to see something a little more recent from our dear Soleil Moon Frye, namely a 1995 made for TV movie, 'Piranha' ... aka Roger Corman Presents Piranha....

[MisterRiffley]

oops. i couldn't wait and ended up watching the rifftrax wicker man anyway. hilarious!

[Thom_Serveaux]

BTW, I discovered that this is actually a remake of a 1973 british film.  Any chance that some of our fellow members from 'across the pond' managed to see the original, so that we might compare and contrast the two?

[MisterRiffley]

the original is actually a cult classic, supposed to be a wonderful film though i've never seen it.

[Thom_Serveaux]

That's what I'm asking is for anyone who's seen both for a side by side comparison...

[Bob]

I'm not from across the pond (unless you are for Europe, then I AM from across your pond) however......

I did not like the 1973 version at all however, I can see how people would like it and make it a cult classic.

The remake was total crap that took everything that was good from the original and distilled it down to hillariously bad.

[Just Some Guy]

The original film was a movie about the cultural conflict between the fundamentalist Christian Detective Woodward and the classically Pagan (as opposed to modern neo-Pagans) people of Summerisle.  The lose structure of the film is identical (Woodward goes to find a missing girl, gets tied up in their rituals, finally "meets" the Wicker Man), but beyond that all of the details are dramatically different.  There is no twisted matriarchy in the original; Christopher Lee plays the leader of the island in the original.  Woodward's purpose in the ceremony is pretty clearly spelled out in the original as well.  Woodward has no ties to the island in the original either.

The core difference, though, is that the original was all about that cultural conflict.  It drove the story and the fundamentalist, intolerant beliefs of Woodward are used to tear him down a bit until the ending.  The important things that the new one took from the original is the detective, the fact that he goes looking for a missing girl, the ending (since the part of the arc of the original relies on not knowing the ending so you can get to like the people of Summerisle knowing what's coming damages the effect), and the fact that the people on the island practice a non-mainstream religion (in both films it's definitely a cult, but most flavors of neo-paganism are not and you can see from the Wicker Man boards how touchy they get on that ).

[MisterRiffley]

well that was certainly thoughtful and detailed! thanks.

i just moved the original wicker man up to number 5 on my netflix queue, right under a bunch of other rifftraxz movies (t3, over the top and something else... oh, daredevil) and um, punky brewster.



christopher lee is great.

[Thom_Serveaux]

Like i sad before, don't forget Pirahna, it's got at least two things going for it, one, it's got got 'Roger Corman' in the title, and a grown up punky....

[BBQ Platypus]

Official BBQ Platypus "Welcome to Insert Forum Name Here" Cookie-Cutter Form Letter:

Greetings, New Poster(s)!  As of now, my feelings toward you are completely neutral! May they remain neutral or better for many a month, before you say something that annoys me slightly until about a week later when I forget about it! Then, may they remain neutral again!

[Sideswipe]

anyone seen that recut version of "wicker man" on youtube yet? where it's all nic cage beating up girls and overacting? just uproariously funny.

Do you mean this one?

[MisterRiffley]

Official BBQ Platypus "Welcome to Insert Forum Name Here" Cookie-Cutter Form Letter:

Greetings, New Poster(s)!  As of now, my feelings toward you are completely neutral! May they remain neutral or better for many a month, before you say something that annoys me slightly until about a week later when I forget about it! Then, may they remain neutral again!

that's so moving! thank you. i endorse this product or service.

[MisterRiffley]

anyone seen that recut version of "wicker man" on youtube yet? where it's all nic cage beating up girls and overacting? just uproariously funny.

Do you mean this one?

naw, that one's cute but i meant this one.

it's just the funniest scenes, recut to make nic cage's character look like a spineless whiner who abuses women without compunction. which is, you know, basically accurate so...

it's really awesome if you haven't seen the movie yet.

[Thom_Serveaux]

I've discovered the true horror of the Wicker Man...

As has Edward Woodward..... (formerly of the Equalizer)

Rejected working title: The Deadly Bees 2: The Quickening