True Horror; the classic Wicker Man.

Author's Rating:

Pros: A crafty mystery contained in chilling tale of terror.

Cons: Was actually filmed in winter; they should have waited a few months.

The Bottom Line: 
This is an enduring and timeless classic. If the 2006 remake did only one good thing, it was to remind us of the original.

Author's Review
The Wicker Man (1973 Directed by Robin Hardy) is a classic of horror. Do not confuse this version with the remake starring Nicolas Cage.

The Wicker Man is the story of Edward Malus, a strict virtuous police officer who comes to Summerisle to investigate a reported disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison.

Malus is met with a polite rebuffment; no one is permitted to land on Summerisle without permission from the Lord. He comes anyway, confident in his authority.

What he finds is a quaint little rustic community, insular and isolated, polite, but not welcoming. As he asks about the girl, everyone denies any knowledge of her, including her alledged mother.

As he investigates, it becomes blatantly apparent that the people of Summerisle are pagans. He, a devout christian, (most likely Presbyterian) is scandalized. Worse, it becomes apparent that they are hiding something.

During the course of his investigation he learns that the crop failed, and Rowan was the Queen of the May. He begins to harbour a suspicion that Rowan is alive, and due to be sacrificed at the Mayday (Beltane) celebration!

But how to prove it, when the entire island is in on the cover up? Malus is determined to save Rowan. The Island is determined to have its sacrifice. How will it end?

This little movie, 88 minutes, has a stellar cast. Police Constable Edward Malus is brought to vivid life by Edward Woodward. The suave and unflappable Lord Summerisle is played by Horror legend Christopher Lee. Britt Ekland has a memorable role as Willow, the landlord's daughter. Her dance scene is...unforgettable. It also gets this gem an R rating. Ingrid Pitt plays the ascerbic School Mistress.

The most outstanding feature of this little drama, is that in all of it, with all its pagan imagery and themes, there is not one supernatural element. All the suspense, all the horror, all the terror, emerges purely from humanity.

The scenery is lovely, the cinematography, excellent. And the musical score...the music is almost a character in and of itself. Celtic in flavor, many tunes are light and spritely, others slow and soft, like fog at dawn. There are many classics, and pieces that were probably written for the work; all of them are masterful, particularly the Maypole song. I keep getting it stuck in my head.

The sum of the parts of this movie make a greater whole, which is one of the reasons it stands up so well after thirty five years.


Check out these Horror reviews:

The Call of C'thulhu
Constantine
The Wicker Man (the remake)
Dreams in the Witch House
30 Days of Night
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
In the Mouth of Madness
The Damned Thing
28 Days Later