Gently, gently Johnny

Author's Rating:

Pros: Christopher Lee, haunting music, very suspenseful

Cons: muddy soundtrack, no captions

The Bottom Line: 
Pacing, music and atmosphere keep the viewer on edge for the 101 minute running length. See it!

Author's Review
Robin Hardy has used a splendidly light touch with this movie. It shows in every frame where the pastoral way of life is gently lit, the dancers are in soft-focus, and the dread builds by the minute.

I heard of _The Wicker Man_ years ago from a book about SF, fantasy and horror movies and finally got a copy of the longer cut. I'd heard mixed reviews, and was looking forward to forming my own opinion.

Wow! That was it. This was not a movie to watch alone, in the middle of the night, as I did. I was thoroughly creeped and had a few nightmares. Not to mention the fact I keep catching myself whistling "Corn Rigs" through my teeth even weeks later.

The story: Inspector Howie (Edward Woodward) is called to Summerisle, a famous apple-producing island a bit too far north for its climate and crops, to investigate the disappearance of 12 year old Rowan Morrison. The villagers claim utter ignorance, never saw the girl, nope, no Rowan here. Only the local gravedigger (Aubrey Morris, recognizable from _A Clockwork Orange_) seems to have ever heard of her. As the good inspector pries more deeply into the mystery, he comes to realize that the people of the island are pagans, worshipping the old gods with the old ways. Several confrontations with Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee, dashing in a kilt) and some research in the local library (under the watchful eye of Ingrid Pitt) lead the inspector to believe that Rowan is to be sacrificed on Beltaine. Time is running out as the May Day parade begins.

The cast: Strong accents in a non-captioned movie are a pet-peeve of this hearing impaired reviewer. Otherwise, wonderful. Woodward is stuffy, self-righteous and arrogant, if devout, in his Christianity. Lee is a delight as always, even with a very bad perm, even in drag that would have looked better without the boat shoes and with sandals. I did not know the man had such a wonderful bass voice, absolutely beautiful as he sings a duet with Diane Cilento, the schoolmistress. The supporting cast is able and realistic, throwing themselves into their roles with relish that never devolves into scenery chewing. Britt Eckland as Willow, the innkeeper's daughter, is sexy yet not slutty. The naked dancing seemed very much in character with her role of initiating the male virgins of the town into manhood.

Others have complained of the music. I found it perfect for the story, and working very nicely, with the soft-focus scenery to create a very palpable menace on Summerisle.

The rituals depicted are indeed accurate, for primitive Celts. As documented by the Romans, the ancient Celts did practice human sacrifice at certain times of the year. (Many ancient pagans did, witness the sacrifice of men and horses to Odin by the Norse, the Kali worshippers of India, the child-victims of Moloch in the Middle East) However, modern forms of paganism have renounced the violence of their history, so viewers need not panic that their Wiccan neighbors are going to be burning virgins. So the note at the beginniing is both true and misleading.

On the whole, a must watch for fans of atmosphere.

Other media in the same vein:
_The Lottery_: a small town and its quaint custom of sacrifice. Both short story and movie short are great.
_Harvest Home_. Filmed as "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" for NBC, the novel by Tom Tryon (The Other, I married a Monster from Outer Space) is again about a small agrarian village and its quiant ways. The movie stars Bette Davis.
_To the Devil a Daughter_ another Chris Lee vehicle, this time battling Richard Widmark for Nastassja Kinski.

For more Edward Woodward: catch old Equalizer reruns. He also plays Saul to Richard Gere's David in the 1985 _King David_.
Christopher Lee is in top form in the theatrical release of _Lord of the Rings_. He's also entertaining in _A Feast at Midnight_, _Gremlins 2: The New Batch_, _House of Long Shadows_, The Man with the Golden Gun, and of course the Hammer Dracula movies.