| The original was made in 1973 and has a real cult following.
It's set on a remote Scottish island. A devout christian cop from the mainland is called to investigate the disappearance of a young girl on the island and gets caught up in the pagan-like rituals of the locals, culminating in a may day celebration. I really shouldn't say any more than that. It's a truly terrifying film, but not in the way that films try to terrify by just showing some guts or something, the terror lies in the unknown and the unspoken and is absolutely inspired. I can't recommend it highly enough, it's perhaps my favourite film.
The remake stars Nicholas Cage and just from watching a trailer I can see that some of the subtlety has been stripped and basic ideas which make themselves apparent in the original are pretty much explained to camera to make sure everyone gets it. Very disappointing already, and I haven't even seen it.
If you're going to see either version, watch the original. It's truly excellent.
Incedentally - Christopher Lee stars as Lord Summerisle in the original and waived his fee as he thought the project so utterly worthwhile and awesome, dude.  |