Robin Hardy's The Wicker Tree was a pleasant surprise when it premiered at Montreal's Fantasia Festival. Early trailers cut during production had not impressed and the response from the early market screenings was generally negative and so it's true that expectations were not high. But, regardless of that, the film ended up being a highly entertaining, wildly idiosyncratic ride. Having director Robin Hardy take the stage and give the audience permission to laugh prior to the screening certainly helped as the picture is best approached as a satire rather than a horror picture and it is one that makes no concessions at all to modern styles or tastes. This is pure Robin Hardy and they haven't made anyone quite like him in quite a long time.
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Anchor Bay have just released a new US trailer for the film, one that focuses heavily - and understandably so - on the film's most commercial elements and ties to Hardy's classic The Wicker Man. You can certainly make the case that the trailer is not entirely accurate to what the film is since it shows only one aspect but it certainly makes for great viewing.When two young missionaries (Brittania Nicol, Henry Garrett) head to Scotland, they are initially charmed by their engaging baron Sir Lachlan Morrison (Graham McTavish) and agree to become the local Queen of the May and Laddie for the annual Tressock town festival. But the couple is not prepared for the frightening consequences of their decision and the very disturbing secrets they are about to discover about Tressock's seemingly friendly townspeople.
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