The Wicker Man

Rating:
Summary: Different kind of movie
Review: It's not too often I run across a movie that depicts the pre-Christian pagan lifestyle, except it's set in modern times. Often when you watch a movie dealing with paganism, witchcraft, or the occult, it's rather sensationalized depicting a rather inaccurate account of the lifestyle, making pagans to look bad or evil. The Wicker Man depicts a community on an imaginary island in Scotland called Summerisle (which was really filmed on the Scottish mainland, when you look at an atlas, you won't be able to find Summerisle anywhere) in which its inhabitants continue to practice the old Celtic pagan religion including the fire and fertility rites. A Christian police officer by the name of Sgt. Neal Howie was called to Summerisle to search for a missing 12 year old girl (Rowan Morrison). None of the inhabitants want to help the guy since they want to lure him to a wicker man for sacrifice because of their failed harvest the previous summer. In other words, this movie portrays neither Christianity nor Paganism in a favorable light, but it's great to see that the makers of the film put much more than a superficial attempt to portray the pagan lifestyle, even if they end up sacrificing a human in the end (real life pagans, luckily, don't sacrifice living beings, be it humans, or livestock). The music is folk, but often in modernized form, some of the songs are "Corn Rigs" (written by Robert Burns), "Willow's Song", "Fire Season", and one of my favorite, the Maypole Song. Some of it is great, some really cheesy (I think "Landlord's Daughter is awful, since the people singing it sounded drunk, but it was supposed to since it was set in the inn). I hear how much this movie was butchered, but there isn't much more I can add on that others hadn't said already. If you're looking for a great movie with pagan themes, look no further than the Wicker Man.

Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing, if only to experience the crazy ending
Review: This is a weird movie.

It's a good kind of weird, an anachronistic kind of weird, a religious hysteria kind of weird. But make no bones about it, this is not your average movie. Mundanes, move along.

Are they gone yet? Okay good. You're in for one hell of a freaky ride.

The Wicker Man is about an island, run by village folk who harken back to the old ways. And we're talking old ways: sucking on frogs to cure sore throats, dancing around maypoles, dressing up as fools, sacrificing maidens to keep the crops bountiful...oops, I've given away too much.

Enter an incredibly uptight, prudish, extremely Catholic, British police officer. Mix well. Add in some really bad 70s music, Christopher Lee, and a lot of bad photography and you get this movie. Which is not quite a horror movie, although it was released in the tradition of the Hammer horrors. Heck, to date, nobody really knows what to do with this flim. If you're a Christian or worship a non-traditional religion, this movie will likely rattle your cage. And it rattles cages in a good way, raising some thought provoking questions about who is in the right -- the religion that works for the majority, or the established hierarchy of the rest of the world. And really, who's the "established" religion anyway? Which came first -- the pagan chicken or the Christian egg?

What a lot of reviews don't mention is the rampant Anglocentricism throughout the film. We have a typical British officer casting aspersions on a Scottish community. For the American equivalent, it might be like a fundamentalist Christian minister visiting an all-black community. There's a lot of history there.

If said blacks suddenly started reenacting African rituals, most people (the reasonable ones anyway) might suspect it of bias. After all, African-Americans, just because of their heritage, didn't hop around shaking spears and dancing around flames. So why, then, are the poor Scottish folk shown as believing in all kinds of pagan beliefs, some of them randomly selected from other cultures?

To Americans, this may not seem like a big deal. To Europeans, or at least to the British, it might seem quaint. To anyone who is Scottish or pagan, it's blatant prejudice. I should know, Maleficent's a pagan, I'm a Roman Catholic, and we know all about the differences between the two religions. This movie does not.

At heart, the Wicker Man was an observation by Julius Caesar about the Gauls. See my Druid History article for more information. Julius was a conquerer, talking about people he defeated -- he was by no means an accurate representation of druidism. And modern Scottish people aren't any more affiliated with druidism than African Americans are affiliated with nature spirits.

The movie was a horror flick preying on the fears of the Europeans -- that Christianity DIDN'T WORK. You don't find that nearly as much these days in America. In the 70s, in Europe, this was a big deal.

However, given its background, we took the movie for what it is: a social commentary, a psychological horror, about the clash between modern and ancient times. As Carl Sagan pointed out in the Demon Haunted World...you can teach people that demons aren't real, but they'll just call them aliens instead.

This movie is worth seeing, if only to experience the crazy ending. But make no mistake: the snide British commentary about how great The Wicker Man constitutes a good part of what makes this film a "horror."

Rating:
Summary: anthropological/sociological
Review: The rave reviews are puzzling. At best, this film is one of the great might-have-beens of cinema history. It has a good idea, a good basic story, a decent clash between natural and revealed religion, fertility and self-denial, and at least two competent performances: Woodward and Cilento could have carried the theme. It has occasional flashes of inspiration. The location is good. The wicker man image is uniquely memorable. But it is so uneven it positively bumps; liking riding over giant cobbles on a bike with two punctures. Presumably it's the fault of having a director with no experience, and nil sense of mood or pacing. Britt Ekland is dreadful, and Christopher Lee (tremendous when in type) is totally physically unsuited to his part. I couldn't take my eyes off his frightful wig, aside from which he's about a foot taller than everyone else, has no earthly rhythm at all, and it shows. Perfect for Dracula of course. The extras include an unwatchable interview with an American who seems to have been promised 100 bucks for every time he coughs up another puff. This is the clumsiest promotion of its type I have ever seen. Shaffer is his normal unbearable self; but the featurette explaining some of the difficulties of making the film, and its wierdly occult survival against all odds and everything the suits could throw at it, as well as its growth as a cult, is pretty interesting. Ingrid Pitt has a realistic take on the thing. Like I said, I thought the Shaffer-generated plot was ingenious: in fact I was quite mystified for about 2/3rds of the way. I was well fooled by the weather cover-up, and wouldn't have known May was being filmed in November. The tropical plants were an oddly effective exotic touch. In the hands of a subtle and sensitive director the whole thing could have been as terrific as the fans seem to want it to be. As it is, it's just bits and pieces of an unfinished jigsaw. A Midsummer Night's Nightmare it isn't.

Rating:
Summary: Wicked interesting
Review: You know you're in for a ride when one of the first exchanges of the movie runs along the lines of: "What's new?" "Oh, rape, sodomy, the usual." There's a bracing dialogue between righteous and right throughout this film, plus lots of camp '70s fashion, bizarre musical numbers and gratuitous nudity of the most ridiculous and entertaining kind. Whoever picked the nude female extras for this film probably has a shrine to J-Lo in his home, if you know what I mean. But all the fun and campiness kind of drains away as you watch for a truly horrific ending with some fine acting from humans and animals alike. I'm not quite sure it all works, but it's a hell of a ride.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic, literary, and chilling British horror film
Review: Right as the Hammer horror films were slowly dying out, "The Wicker Man" appeared and shocked the British horror scene. Written by playwright Anthony Schaffer (author of the hit play and movie "Slueth") "The Wicker Man" is a horror film heavy on realistic drama and scene setting, atmosphere and performance, and an intelligent examination of ancient English pagan religions. It was unlike any horror film made up to that time, but many others would follow its example of a realistic approach to the fright flick. Even today, it still has a hypnotic power to pull audiences into its believable world where pagan and druidic rites still survive in beautiful corners of the English isles, and the trick-switch ending is still as shocking and horrifying as ever. Christopher Lee, veteran of many gothic thrillers and horror movies, credits this as his favorite of all his movies, and it's easy to see why. This is one film you won't soon forget.

A police officer (Woodward, in a superb performance that's both prudish and angry), arrives at the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle, where Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee, brilliant as usual and enjoying getting away from the Dracula Character) lords over a revival of an old pagan fertility religion. Woodward, a devout Christian, searches for a missing girl and becomes more and more horrified at the sexual practices and religious ideas of the otherwise incredibly pleasant people of Summerisle. But the greatest horror is waiting just beneath his gaze...The Wicker Man.

The DVD has a great print of the film, with 5.1 surround sound to present the wonderful soundtrack of tradition Scottish tunes. There's also a revealing 35-minute documentary with interviews with writer Schaffer (soon before his death), Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, plus the director and almost all the creative people involves. You'll get to see the filming locations as they look today, and be amazed that they haven't changed at all! (But by all means, DON'T watch the documentary before the film; it will spoil the ending for you.)

Even if you claim to dislike horror movies, you should check out "The Wicker Man." It is filled with intelligence and ideas that will have you thinking about it for days afterwards. Only a select few horror films can boast of that. (But if casual nudity offends you, as it does Edward Woodward's character, you might want to skip it. You'll still be missing out.)

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Chilling
Review: "The Wicker Man" was always a bit of a disappointment to me because long before I got a chance to watch the movie, I accidentally learned how it ended. Therefore, the final devastating moments of this Christopher Lee/Edward Woodward horror-drama lacked the punch it probably has for most viewers who go into "The Wicker Man" totally unaware. Try to avoid learning a lot about this movie before you watch it because I assure you that you will be much happier with the results. Imagine a film about paganism and the philosophical implications of a modern day Christian encountering such a primitive religion, with all of its attendant rituals and colorful ceremonies, alive and well on a Scottish isle and you have the basic premise of this haunting movie. "The Wicker Man" is considered by many to be one of the greatest cult horror films ever made, and while I don't think this claim is necessarily true, I still found much to like here.

Police Sergeant Neil Howie arrives on a small island off the coast of Scotland on a mission to follow up an anonymous tip he received about a missing girl. We learn right from the start that the police sergeant is a devout, no nonsense Christian, but even he isn't prepared for the weirdness running rampant through the byways of this community. Right from the start, things on Summerisle seem downright weird. The locals drinking in the pub where Howie procures lodgings are extremely strange folk, as is Willow, the daughter of the inn owner. That very night the police sergeant has an erotic encounter with Willow that is sure to test the faith of the most ardent Christian. Further eeriness rears its head when Howie sees strange goings on at the local school, some of the bizarre customs practiced on the island, and finally meets with the wild haired eccentric Lord Summerisle. It turns out that most people don't seem all that concerned about the missing girl Howie is looking for. Howie rapidly goes from a state of perplexity to one of utter repugnance as he gradually learns the true secrets of the this island: the people here, led by the zealous Lord Summerisle, are practicing pagans who emphatically reject the Christianity so adored by Howie. But as much as the police sergeant thinks he knows, he is in for a very rude awakening as the movie twists and turns to its grim conclusion.

"The Wicker Man" is a very colorful movie, with plenty of dancing, singing, and great costumes. The music is quite unique, at least for me, and plays a big part throughout the picture. What I liked best about this film was the cast. Britt Ekland turns up in the small role of Willow, the pagan temptress who tries to seduce Howie with a rather sultry dance in the beginning of the film. Christopher Lee is a bit of a question mark here. In an interview included on the disc, he claims that "The Wicker Man" was the best role he ever had in a movie. Moreover, he loved the film so much that he personally called film critics in order to help get the film some much needed publicity. Most of what Lee says about his part in this production is a bit of surprise because his character really doesn't appear in many scenes of the film, and when he does show up, he doesn't really do much. Apparently, some missing footage contained several lengthy scenes of Lee as Lord Summerisle, so perhaps this helps explain his limited screen time. The real prize in the film is Edward Woodward in the role of Neil Howie. Like most people, the only exposure I have had with this actor was his stint in the American television series "The Equalizer" a few years ago. In "The Wicker Man," Woodward shines as the hard-nosed Howie, a dedicated cop who adequately conveys the sort of outrage concerning the shenanigans on Summerisle one would expect from a deeply religious man. Even though I knew how the film ended, Howie's reactions to his fate still chilled me to the bone. Woodward alone provides the biggest reason you should watch this movie. What a fine actor.

The DVD version of the film boasts an impressive array of extras, specifically interviews with principals Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, and some background about director Robin Hardy and screenwriter Anthony Schaffer. You even get some information about the conditions endured by cast and crew alike as they filmed the project (poor, poor Edward Woodward and that scared goat!). The controversy surrounding the distribution of the film, which the studio cut and sloppily marketed, is discussed in some detail. Christopher Lee still looks mad over the missing footage, which he claims is probably in someone's basement or attic waiting to be found. The official explanation is that a mistake made while cleaning out a film vault resulted in parts of this film being thrown in the back of a dump truck. Even if this enigmatic footage never surfaces, the film I saw was still massively entertaining. I cannot say that this is the best picture I have ever seen, but its reputation requires all cinema fans to give it a watch. It's definitely unique enough to stand out in the old memory banks well after the closing credits fade to black. Any film that can accomplish that feat is worthy of a five star rating, wouldn't you say

Rating:
Summary: A genuine masterpiece
Review: Beneath the script, there is a claustrofobic enviroment . You feel that there`s no way out. The same feeling you experienced in that fifties movie named The body snatchers.
The law pretends to make justice in a world who lives without knowing it. This return to the past in the mytical sense of the word makes that our private eye be less than a puppet.
A unforgettable given by Christopher Lee and the narrative flow makes this weird tale instales in your memory for ever.
Get his DVD and enjoy this film. It will let you too much worried about a lot of issues you assumed valid.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning, an absolute must!!
Review: This is a POWERHOUSE of a movie that will blow your mind!!!

It is listed as a horror film, when actually it is SO MUCH MORE. If one classify the genre, I would say Mystery.

It begins with an anonymous letter to the Scottish Constable ( Edward Woodward of Equilizer fame) telling of Summer Isle. A local girl is missing and none of the villagers seems to show any interest. Flying to the small Isle, Woodward arrives just before Beltane, the pagan May Day Festivals and the find the Island completely immersed in the Pagan ways of Auld. Head of the Isle is Lord Summerisle (British horror legend Christopher Lee - Dracula for Hammer Films - in his favourite performance), the leader of his pagan island, and it is clear he not only is aware of the villagers beliefs, he encourages them!

Slowly, Woodward comes to believe the girl is being held for Sacrifice on May Day as he races to save her.

Brilliant performance from Britt Eckland (former Mrs. Peter Sellers and one of the great beauties of her time - * though most of the nude shots are not her since she was pregnant at the time) Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt and Diane Cilento (the first Mrs. Sean Connery, mother of Jason) contribute to the eerie feel.

The movie portrays pagan beliefs in an unHollywood style, that goes for substance and facts, rather than sensationalism. The scenery is beautiful and the music written for the film is haunting.

The film faced many production problems, to being passed through several production companies, a lot of lost footage from the film editor - a devoutly religious man who thought is sinful to be filming this and was systematically destroying as much as he could, and indifferent reediting by Roger Corman, and then nearly dying in bad handly in the theatres. Was not seen for nearly two decades, and the version in existence was Corman's poorly edited one, missing over 20 minutes of the 101 minute original verson.

I spent years and year trying to track down a copy, and finally for a short time news was good. The director found that he had an original copy still in his position. This was released the VHS - first time the 101 version had been seen in nearly two decades!! Shortly after, it was pulled from the shelves. Corman's version ( a nice companion piece so it was made of a lot of out takes) came out for a spell.

So I am delighted to see this one on DVD and protected for all time.

Warning: some flashes of Eckland and her stand-in nude, and people of a very religious nature will not like the content. Otherwise, this is one fabulous knock out of a film.

Rating:
Summary: "The CITIZEN KANE of horror films!"
Review: It's the stunning climax of The Wicker Man that makes it a horror movie. Up until that chilling, horrific ending, it's an intriguing mystery, as police Sgt. Neil Howie investigates the reported disappearance of a young girl on the remote Scottish island of Summerisle. There he encounters odd characters and events that taunt and frustrate his every effort to uncover the truth behind the strange culture of the islanders, until, at the end, he finally discovers the secret of Summerisle and meets the wicker man, and his fate.

The Wicker Man was called "the Citizen Kane of horror films" by the genre magazine Cinefantastique in its Winter 1977 issue, which was almost entirely devoted to the making of the movie. I wouldn't go quite that far, but it is an engrossing film, worthy of many viewings. I'd never heard of it until I read about it in the magazine, but when I bought my first VCR in 1982 and started collecting movies, it was one of the first movies I bought, right along with Alien, King Kong, and Star Wars. Heady company, indeed! And thanks to Cinefantastique I knew enough to get the uncut 102 minute version from Media Home Entertainment. I was not disappointed! I recommend The Wicker Man to all fans of British horror films (and who isn't?) Now that the DVD has been released, I'm looking forward to seeing it on that medium as well!

Rating:
Summary: Truly A Great Film
Review: I have just seen this movie end five minutes ago and will proclaim that this is the shortest period of time before I wrote a review of a movie after watching it.
The plot has been reiterated over 100 times, just scroll down and you can find it.
The movie begins as a mystery with a police officer coming to the town and beginning the investigation of a missing girl. As night falls the movie starts to turn into a campy 70s-80s style horror/gore/porno style flick with the weird singing, gratuitous nudity, and dark and haunting imagery of the graveyard. From this point the viewer will assume that they know the direction in which the movie is headed; headed into a vat of gratuitous nudity and possibly some gory scenes. These images subside rather quickly and we are returned to the mystery imagery. We then see children learning about pagan sex symbols and singing songs about rituals and whatever else. The mystery begins to unfold with an empty desk in the middle of a class in a town with a total of a few hundred residents.
Officer Howie begins to discover more clues and a web of mendacity and conspiracy in the strange town. Soon he is lead down the path to the true nature of the town. I will not divulge the ending to those that have not yet seen it but it is rather dramatic.
The movie's imagery is thoroughly interesting and even if you are not captivated by the exhilerating plot you are sure to be impressed by the interesting surroundings and some of the outright bizarre rituals. Though it may seem that the plot moves a little slowly, everything has relevance to the story.
The movie I beleive is wrongly referred to as a horror movie as there is not a single scene where you will jump up out of your seat, there are however some rather dramatic and powerful images that might disturb you but none that will genuinely frighten. Furthermore the movie does not create the same mood as a horror film partly because the first time director did not know much about creating mood or atmosphere, however this is all ok as I love unconventional movies.
Furthermore the music in the movie is truly unique and every one of the actors has a powerful voice and the instrumentals are also very good, all played on celtic folk instruments of sorts. The movie has enough music to be called a musical however this is the farthest thing in the world from broadway.
Overall this movie could not be more recommended, and as you can of course see i am not the only person to hold such an opinion about this movie.