The Wicker Man (1973)

Unfortunately, when one mentions The Wicker Man, many think of the viral clip of Nicholas Cage yelling about bees in the remake rather than the small budget treatise on blindly following religion that the original film is.  Part police procedural, part horror film and part musical, The Wicker Man is unique in both its jarring unevenness and its ability to create a sense of unease with little going on through most of the movie, climaxing in a heart wrenching manner. 

Sgt. Howie (Edward Woodward) is a Scottish police officer who travels to the isolated community of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl named Rowan (Gerry Cowper).  Upon arrival he finds that no one on the island will admit to ever having seen the girl, including her mother May (Irene Sunters).  Blocked at every turn, the devoutly Catholic Sgt. Howie finds himself pursued by Willow (Britt Ekland), the daughter of the local innkeeper, and perplexed by the fact that the community appears to be made up of modern-day pagans. 

The island is cared for by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) whose grandfather created several hardy strains of fruit that have become the island's main export.  With the harvest dwindling and the livelihood of the community threatened it appears that the residents may have sacrificed Rowan in order to appease their gods and renew the harvest.  Still, the more Howie looks into it and peels back the layers of secrecy on the island, the more he becomes convinced that something even more sinister is about to happen.

Christopher Lee pretty much did any movie he could for a paycheck, often lambasting them for being awful scripts and rarely showing up for more than a small cameo.  He did much more in The Wicker Man, but something happened along the way.  The owner of British Lion, the small film company responsible for the film, hated it.  Much was cut before it ever reached the theaters and its initial run had little promotion in the United States.  The film gained popularity by word of mouth, and Lee believed in it so much that he went around the United States promoting it himself.  He often thought of Lord Summerisle as one of his favorite roles, but was dismayed that a good portion of it was excised. 

There was quite a bit of background on Sgt. Howie that was removed as well as numerous scenes in the village, as well as having Willow try to seduce Howie much earlier in the film than intended.  This makes the original theatrical cut rather confusing, but it doesn't clear up much with the director's cut.  Writer Anthony Shaffer and director Robin Hardy purposely left a lot of it vague and, though it is made clear at the end that they are not siding with the pagans, neither are they siding with Howie's stuffy version of Christianity.  Instead, the point of the movie is the danger of religious extremism, even if that religion appears open and tolerant at first. 

To this end Edward Woodward is amazing, with Sgt. Howie not so subtly trying to bring his version of civilization to the island and to its children.  The naked rituals, frank sexual discussions and general bawdy and lascivious behavior of the population lead him to threaten to bring a swarm of cops to the island to remove Summerisle and place the majority of them in jail.  

It took me several tries to get the movie.  I always liked the last 20 minutes or so but was not prepared on first viewing for this to be somewhat of a musical.  Britt Eckland does a topless performance with a stripper filling in for scenes from her behind, singing (voice dubbed by an actual singer) one of many folk songs that pepper the movie.  The gleeful, musical portion fades halfway through as the real sense of menace starts to creep in, but it is jarring when one is expecting a British horror film that follows the more tried-and-true Hammer pattern. 

Although there are a number of films that came before it that have been bundled into the term "folk horror" over the years The Wicker Man is still the epitome of the genre, mainly because it focuses on folk traditions, even if most of it is made up.  I will forgive it for playing fast and loose with Celtic and Druidic paganism as it is made clear that what the residents of Summerisle practice was cobbled together over a few generations to keep them distracted and happy.  It manages to build both an alluring and sinister background in which to set one of the most unique horror films. 

The Wicker Man (1973)

Time: 88 minutes

Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Eckland, Ingrid Pitt

Director: Robin Hardy