Rating: 
Summary: A Pagan Classic
Review: One of a kind, engaging masterpiece, which doesn't fall neatly into the horror category. It does represent a clash between two different worldviews, two belief systems - pagan and Christian with the focus on the lifestyle and practices of a small pagan group living on a small island west of Scotland.
The inhabitants are friedly and live their life in harmony with nature and with their own beliefs and practices, according to their own code of morals and ethics. As much as it may seem bizarre to the outsiders, it is no more bizarre than most other codes - merely different.
Among the rituals this group performs, one requires a sacrifice - yet the sacrifice has to come out of his own free will and has to fulfill three conditions: he has to be a representative of the law, he has to be a virgin and he has to prove to be a fool.
The Christian man who is intentionally tricked to come to the island is not left without a choice. He is free to leave any time he wishes. He is also given plenty of opportunity and even lead in many ways to prove to be an unsuitable sacrifice - to no avail. One could say, when in Rome, do as Romans do - or else ... dismal things may happen.
Rating:
Summary: Still very unsettling 30 years later
Review: Some movies really begin to show their age after a few decades have passed. Other than some of the musical sequences, this movie continues to be profoundly disturbing in many ways. Its conclusion literally made my jaw drop (one of only 3 movies to do so) when I first saw it. Repeated viewings may of course lack the punch since I know the outcome, but the depth & complexity of the content continues to draw me back from time to time.
Like a really good thriller/horror --- whatever you want to call it --- this movie leaves as many questions unanswered as answered when it concludes. One cannot help but wonder when Sgt. Howie turns the tables on Lord Summerisle at the end, if he has in fact ultimately won the battle of wits by forcing Summerisle to take a huge gamble. What will happen if the crops fail again the next year? We do not know the answer, but we cannot help but imagine the scene as the film concludes. We continue to ask the same questions, even 30 years later. That is good film-making.
Rating:
Summary: Warning: Other reviews contain spoilers!!!
Review: Just a warning to those of you who haven't seen this film: Some of the people who have posted reviews below have been complete jerks and given away the ending without warning! Someone has even given away the ultimate spoiler in their title! Personally, I think this is unfair, so be warned.
Otherwise, this is a great movie -- at least in my opinion. Some people find it dull and slow-moving. But if you decide to invest in it, be sure to get Anchor Bay's 99-minute "extended version," which comes with the expensive Limited Edition and which they are releasing separately in mid-September. Anchor Bay's transfer is, as always, superb. Though it would have been nice if they could have included the commentary track with Christopher Lee and director Robin Hardy that appears as an extra on the Region 2 disc.
Rating:
Summary: Truly a Great Film
Review: Last week I had the chance to sit down and watch this truly excellent movie. The Wicker Man stars Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland. I was expecting a sort-of cheap gothic horror film (after all, Christopher Lee is in it) but I got something much better.Edward Woodward plays a policeman from the Highland Police who has flown to the island of Summerisle to investigate a report of a missing girl. After discovering that just setting foot on the island is an adventure, Woodward is unable to find anyone who knows the girl who is missing. Even the girl's mother doesn't know who she is. A right puzzler. Forced to stay on the island, Woodward takes a room at the local tavern. Amidst the bawdy songs and lively music he begins to realize that the island folk are not quite what he is used to. As his investigation takes him further along Woodward begins to suspect that the island is populated by sinners. By his definition he is right. The local population reverted back to their old religion during the early Victorian Era. They are now firmly entrenched in their old beliefs. To top it off it just happens to be May Day. Unable to drop the case, Woodward finds traces of the girl. He suspects that she is alive but captive and a soon-to-be sacrifice to restore the harvest. Woodward infiltrates the May Day celebration disguised as Punch. Then, at a crucial moment, he manages to grab the girl and flee. Then he learns the real truth. From the opening credits showing the Scottish Isles and their sapphire waters and the accompanying Celtic music this movie is anything but a cheap horror film. Woodward plays the epitome of the Christian and the Authoritarian. Armored only with his belief in his god he must face a setting that, to him, is completely evil. Young girls being taught the significance of the maypole, naked women jumping through fire to help fertility, march hares in caskets and dozens of other examples. But it is Woodward who is the strange one. The people look at him as they would a simpleton. But Woodward, knowing that god and country are behind him, manages to keep going right to the conclusion of the film. This classic confrontation of Christian against Pagan is so well done, framed by modern settings and Celtic music, that I can hardly say how good it is. Woodward's performance rivals his role in Breaker Morant and the young Christopher Lee's talent shows through so clearly that it is obvious why he was cast in so many roles. The story was written by the same man who brought us Hitchcock's Frenzy as well as the mystery Sleuth. If you have not seen this 1973 film, I urge you to do so.
Rating:
Summary: one way ticket
Review: visitng an island where people respond jovially to being brainwashed is quite a concept. the best example of a "mcguffin" ever. hedonists sacrifice an accomplished scottish police sgt. however the way his scottish colleagues spoke of him, they have still probably failed to realize he is missing. his attempt to instill any type of normalcy is quickly quelled in an orgy of obscurity. if anyone knows the inn keeper's daughter's phone number, have her give me a ring. a great dvd to reccommend at a party for sure, if you enjoy crookeye
| 
