The Wicker Man 2006 Adaptation

I finally watched the remake of The Wicker Man, which was adapted from the original 1973 British version into something a tad bit different.  It wasn't the same movie verbatim, and all the characters of importance, except for the California Cop, Edward Malus, played by Nicholas Cage were all women.  Other than the characters all being women, and a few plot surprises, the movie is the same and it ends the same, but the ending was super cool and not a boring burning like the first one!

Here are some of the highlights of the film.  Dad says you never hit a girl, but Sister Beech had it coming!

 Malus get a letter from his ex-fiancée, Willow Woodward that her daughter, Rowan is missing. Some of the main characters were played by Ellen Burstyn, as Sister Summerisle, a reprisal of the original role taken by Christopher Lee in the seventies version as Lord Summerisle.  Leelee Sobieski was in it as well and Francis Conroy, the mom from Six Feet Under, my favorite HBO show of all time!  Is Francis Conroy not the most adorable lady in the world.  I wish she was my mom.  James Franco is in it, I guess, but I never really noticed.

There is no Neo Pagan nudity in this one, unfortunately, but it was made into a more palatable mainstream film, which I didn't really dig.  I hated that the musical part and the dancing naked fertility ritual was omitted entirely.  It made the film boring and took away from some of the oddness.  I did like the creepy old twins that say everything at the same time, though.  They were cool.  Basically, Summerisle is run by women for women, and the men on the island are used simply for work and procreation.  Its creepy, and the different plot twists almost make it a different movie, well kinda. 

Oh, if you want to watch Nick Cage punch chicks all day, definitely rent this flick. 

The Plague & Season of The Witch - Similar, But Different

At long last somebody has covered the Black Plague in Europe and has applied a supernatural horror concept to it, and it has been done more than once this year, and both flicks are quite unique, and I would say equally good.  I must say I enjoyed Season of the Witch a bit more, but I really liked both films, the other being Black Death. 

Black Death - The Black Death was probably more psychological than anything else, and heralded less special effects.  It relied on the creepiness of witchery and Pagan evil more than anything else.  And when I say Pagan evil, I mean actual evil Pagans.  Most Pagans are peaceful and practice nice and helpful Wicca, not straight out hurting people and casting plagues among their peoples.  These guys were a bit more sneaky, and weren't as fun as the girl in Season of the Witch, but that's what I liked about it.  Its worth watching!  I was very surprised.  I had not idea how the film would approach their fight of evil, but I found out.  It was quite suspenseful, and not what I expected, wholly. 

Black Death - Trailer

Season of the Witch - Season of the Witch had great special effects, a seriously strong, and scary little teenage witch.  She had personality.  She was manipulative, and actually did nice things every so often, but they were all for her own purposes.  It had an interesting host of characters, not much different from that of The Black Death, but still it was fun, and super suspenseful.  The plagued dead were gross, and had bugs buzzing all around them.  The crusty corpses added a nice effect.  There was also a "holy war" plot and showed all the battles the two main characters had engaged in.  They desert their cause, and to spare their own lives are charged with another "holy mission", to see "The Black Witch" to an abbey to be dealt with supernaturally, neat!  I dug the way the witches were executed in the beginning, too.  You will have to watch, authentic.  The one thing that bothered me was the absence of a Medieval accent or way of speaking, and the fact that everyone spoke in an American accent.  It took away from things, but it was still a good flick.

Season of the Witch - Trailer