Deeply campy, deeply creepy

Author's Rating:

Pros: Creepy

Cons: Campy

Author's Review
It's hard to know whether to start with the strengths or the flaws of Wicker Man. Both are significant. What is most obvious on the first viewing is how far the horror/suspense genre has come since this was made in the early 1970's. Any episode of the X-Files is more sophisticated and better-produced than Wicker Man. Yet beneath the goofy folk music, slack editing and over-the-top acting lies a profound creepiness that stays with you for longer than you'd think.

Like the Blair Witch Project (also a silly, poorly-produced flick on its surface) and unlike most of the horror genre, Wicker Man lends itself to many different interpretations. The longer you ponder what might have been going on, the greater your terror. So don't laugh too hard at the kitsch in this movie. It just might give you nightmares.

The plot is your basic stranger-in-a-strange-town story. The devoutly Christian Police Sergeant Howie flies to a remote island off the western coast of Scotland to investigate reports of a missing girl. Summerisle, which is famous for its apples, seems strangely lush and even tropical for its location. The cagey locals are none too cooperative with Howie's investigation. In fact, they claim never to have seen the girl. Strangest of all is the eccentric Lord Summerisle, who rules over the island from his castle and retains control over the tiniest details of everyday life. Gradually the island's pagan practices come to light and Howie begins to suspect the worst. He plans a daring rescue just as the island's May Day festivities are coming to their height -- and then the real horror is revealed.

Now, I'm not your typical jaded moviegoer spoiled by slick Hollywood sound and effects. I like mine grainy and low-budget. Still, the flaws of the film, especially the video, really interfered with my enjoyment and they will probably interfere with yours. The video was first released in a butchered 84-minute version which leaves out key scenes. Many video stores still stock this one, so make sure you get the 101-minute version. Even the longer version is a mediocre pan-and-scan job that does no credit to the gorgeous island terrain and the quaint village. The sound quality is very poor, making it hard to understand a lot of the dialogue and the crucial song lyrics. It doesn't help that the actors are speaking in sketchy, sometimes dubbed Scottish accents.

On a more basic level, Wicker Man has not aged very gracefully. In 1973 the folky soundtrack, the nudity and open discussion of "mature" themes must have seemed daring and innovative, but now they're just dated. Britt Ekland's nude mating dance, which involves a lot of banging on the walls, is unintentionally hilarious. The music deserves special attention; after all, this is most likely the only musical horror flick you will ever see. Some songs do a lot for the film's atmosphere, like the stirring traditional song, nearly a cappella, that plays as the opening credits roll, or the carousel-like "The Landlord's Daugher" which is sung Monty-Python style by a pubful of townspeople to the horrified sergeant upon his arrival. On the other hand, "Corn Rigs" and "Gently Johnny" as performed in the film are like off-brand fashion knockoffs: as long as the fashion is current, they look cheap but basically fit in; but as soon as the fashion changes, the tacky material and the flimsy construction become obvious and they start to look bad. If you are a folk music fan, these songs are tolerable; otherwise, your teeth will itch.

The script and editing are also rather weak. Several horrifying moments, including the finale, are undercut by a lingering camera and too much explanation. Too often the director breaks the show-don't-tell-rule, using dialogue for exposition. Lord Summerisle's final speech, laying out what could have been left to the imagination, is a killer, and the final cataclysm goes on way too long. The film really could have used tighter editing and more understatement.

Still, Wicker Man has its deeply disturbing moments. The May Day parade, headed by Lord Summerisle in strangely terrifying drag, is one. More generally, the glimpses of the bizarre lurking in an otherwise ordinary backwater town -- the Green Man Inn, the pagan charms that hang everywhere, and the naked girls singing a lilting little song as they leap through a bonfire -- all tell us that something is... a little off somehow. And late in the film, the chase scene through the streets of the village, in which fully costumed mummers play peek-a-boo in archways, does a lot to build an eerie mood.

Wicker Man toys with your perceptions of paganism. You are inclined to be a nice, openminded 21st century viewer, but you can’t help wondering: are the villagers common murderers? Are they harmless kooks? Are they really following their ancestral religious traditions? Or is something more sinister going on? Even at the end of the film, these questions haven’t been fully answered. Then it’s your turn to ponder.

I usually run away screaming from Hollywood remakes of foreign films. The recent versions of La Femme Nikita (Point of No Return), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (To Wong Foo...), and The Vanishing, just to name a few, have been duds. Still, I can't help wondering what Chris Carter (the producer of the X-Files) might do with this. You won't catch me saying this often, but it would be nice to see a remake of a rescripted Wicker Man with a little more of a budget -- it would really do this chilling material justice.