The Wicker Man (novel) for the film, but were cut to reduce running time and have not been seen since the loss of the film negative. For example, the character of Lord Summerisle's gillie is restored, and the reader learns of Howie's interest in bird-watching. The novelization reveals that Sergeant Neil Howie had originally attempted to become a priest, but that he was daunted by the prospect of preaching the minority faith of Episcopalianism in the staunchly Presbyterian Scottish Highlands. Howie's relationship with his fiancée, Mary Bannock, is explored in greater detail. Allan Brown writes that Howie's arguments with Lord Summerisle have more impact
The Wicker Man (2006 film) consensus says, "Puzzlingly misguided, Neil LaBute's update "The Wicker Man" struggles against unintentional comedy and fails." On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 36% from 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". CinemaScore gave it rating of "F" based on surveys from general audiences. On "At the Movies", the film received two thumbs down from Richard Roeper and Aisha Tyler, although they both said the film was "entertainingly bad". The film was not without its positive reviews. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, saw the film in a more positive light, saying that director Neil LaBute brought some "innovation" over