Nicolas Cage Starred In A Terrible Remake Of A Cult Classic '70s Horror Movie

Sometimes, letting Oscar-winning screen legend Nicolas Cage go full Cage pays off massively. It's one of the reasons "Spider-Noir" made for such a great watch. It's also why "Face/Off" became a John Woo '90s sci-fi masterpiece, with a little help from John Travolta. However, there are instances where even a crazed Cage isn't enough to save the film he's starring in, like the 2006 remake of "The Wicker Man."

The original 1973 film was directed by Robin Hardy and followed a puritanical police sergeant (Edward Woodward) who visits a Scottish island in search of a missing girl. The longer he stays, the more he learns about the locals, their pagan rituals, and the charismatic leader played by Christopher Lee. Flash forward to 2006, and director Neil LaBute tried to retell a similar story with Nicolas Cage in Woodward's role, mixing things up by having the island run by women who worship bees.

Daring to step on such hallowed horror ground as "The Wicker Man" was met with reluctance, especially given that good remakes are hard to come by. The outcome was just as bad as fans anticipated, with the 2006 take considered one of the worst horror remakes ever, with an atrocious Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score of just 15%. And yet, even with that kind of hate, "The Wicker Man" remake went on to earn a different legacy from the original, with Cage's performance in particular being a highlight.

When LaBute's take on "The Wicker Man" hit theaters, it was quickly burnt to a crisp by harsh criticism. Empire simply labeled it "Bad idea. Bad film.", with the New York Times describing the director as, "comically inept as a horror-movie technician. He can't even manage an effective false scare, or sustain suspense for more than a beat or two." The San Francisco Chronicle called out the film's lead, saying, "Nicolas Cage's finest hours are not spent frantically running through a forest in The Wicker Man, especially when he must do so dressed in a bear suit."

It's this moment, and Cage making some wild creative choices with his character before and while being stung by bees, that led to the film becoming a hit in a different way. Over time, the film gained a reputation of being "so bad its good", losing its sting in scares but gaining notoriety for Cage with a performance turned up to 11.

The actor was quick to acknowledge that the film hadn't quite clicked in the right way, seeing "The Wicker Man" as a different animal from what he anticipated. "There is a mischievous mind at work on 'The Wicker Man,' you know? You know what I mean?" Cage told HitFix in a now archived interview. "And I finally kind of said, 'I might have known that the movie was meant to be absurd.'"