Review by Dr Karen Oughton
Stars Britannia Nicol, Henry Garrett, Graham McTavish, Honeysuckle Weeks, Clive Russell, Keira McMillan,
James Mapes, Lesley Mackie, Prue Clarke
Written by Robin Hardy
Certification UK 18
Runtime 90 minutes
Directed by Robin Hardy
The pressure was most certainly on the venerable Hardy for The Wicker Tree, his follow-up to the seminal The Wicker Man. In this later story, (set after the events in the first film take place) two young religious zealots, Beth (Nicol) and Steve (Garrett) travel to Scotland to spread the Word of Christ to the lowland's inhabitants. What they find is that their own religious gifts provide fertile ground for the society's new rites.
The Wicker Tree does contain elements of The Wicker Man, but it would be wrong to see this film as a simply retread or rip-off: it has merit of its own. Its fear focus is as a study of how far people will go to cling to their beliefs, rather than resting Wicker Man-like on horror of the beliefs themselves. It is a study of a changing community, even if it is periodically creepy rather than outright frightening.
This tonal change is largely down to Hardy's directing. While some of the characters are overly comic (particularly a turn from a Billy Connolly double) and offer light relief, others show impressive emotional sincerety. In one scene near the wicker tree itself, we can believe that the passion burning in the villagers' hearts comes from their simple need to do something when the are forced to adapt the rituals through which they live their lives. Weeks' libidous but caring Lolly is a particular standout in this regard.
What's more, the photography, while perhaps less potent than in The Wicker Man, does show the sense of how the locals can hold their beliefs. The landscape retains a sense of wild, natural awe, but it is the scenes in which the human touch is felt where the 'magic' is most obvioius and can convince that there may be something more mysterious in the May Day ritual.
The Wicker Tree is a different kind of film to The Wicker Man. It shows us how the people adjust to forced changes in their lifestyles, but in doing so, it creates a niche of its own.