The Wicker Man is considered one of the greatest and most influential British horror films. It is celebrating its 50th Anniversary so now is a great time to revisit this film.
Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is a police officer and a devoted Christian. He receives a letter from Summerisle, a remote island in the Outer Hebrideans about a 12-year-old girl who has disappeared. On his arrival, Howie receives contradictory messages from locals saying there was no girl who is called Rowan Morrison to saying she died. Howie attempts to get to the bottom of this mystery just as the islanders prepare to celebrate their Mayday Pagan ritual.
The Wicker Man set the template for Folk Horror films. Many films have followed in its footsteps where an outsider goes to a remote location and discovers the locals have strange and sinister customs. Films like The Black Death, Midsommar, and Hot Fuzz were influenced by the 1973 film. Hot Fuzz even cast Edward Woodward in a supporting role. Other films had more subtle references like the 2019 version of Pet Sematary where some children wear animal masks as they perform a ritual. The Wicker Man was remade in 2006 with the Nicolas Cage version, which has been memed to death.
The Wicker Man has garnered a cult classic status that has endured for years. It has often been recognised as one of the greatest horror films and greatest British films. It’s certainly up there with Trainspotting and Whisky Galore as one of the greatest Scottish films and the iconography of the titular Wicker Man has become so ingrained in British culture. It was referenced during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. StudioCanal recently re-released the film on a 4K Blu-ray set featuring all three cuts.
The Wicker Man had an off-kilter, off-beat nature. The story was about a Puritan Christian with a sense of justice going to an island with a sexually open culture and administering their own laws. It was a remote place that was far away from any other settlement or the authorities. This culture clash did lead to some moments of comedy like when Howie walks by a man who was singing a sexually suggestive song and a group of naked women dancing around a maypole. There was also a more sinister side to this off-beat, sexual nature as shown when Willow (Britt Ekland) sang a siren song to temp Bowie and he was doing everything he could to resist her.
The Wicker Man was about a clash of ideals. The most obvious was the difference of religion with Bowie being a pilgrim in an unholy land. He was shocked by their beliefs, their open sexuality, and how they turned their back on Christianity. He lived a simple, puritan life and was dismayed by their jovial behaviour, as well as a lack of public concern for a missing child. Bowie tried to keep Christianity alive as shown with his gesture of making a cross at the old cemetery and preaching his gospel until his final breath.
Despite Bowie’s religious beliefs, he stood against the mysticism that the people of Summerisle believed him. He tried to explain that there was a scientific reason why the island’s crops failed. The origins of the island becoming a produce hub were based on scientific reason and the first Lord Summerisle encouraged Pagan practices to help the island prosper.
The Wicker Man started off as a slow burn since it was a mystery. The film’s setup where a police officer goes to a remote location could easily have been a thriller. The mystery does unfold and there were moments that have an extra significance, for instance when Bowie questions the quality of his meal at the Green Man Inn. The scene where Bowie figures out what happened to Rowan and what happened to Summerisle was like a scene in Soylent Green (which was released in the same year as The Wicker Man) and Game of Thrones.
The tension did ratchet up during the final act. Bowie was in a race against time to save Rowan. There was a great eerie moment when Bowie discovered a child pretending to be dead, and much of the tension came from Bowie avoiding being discovered. The Wicker Man does have one of the greatest horror endings since Bowie was sacrificed and burned alive. It was a dark ending seeing Bowie being engulfed by flames and hearing animal sacrifices shrieking in terror whilst the residents of the island sing.
The Wicker Man is a film that fans of horror and British cinema should check out. Some audiences may find The Wicker Man quaint by modern standards, but it’s still a significant and entertaining film.
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