The Wicker Man

I believe in the life eternal, as promised to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Mainland Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) flies off to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a 12 year old girl. What he finds is a culture steeped in Paganism, presided over by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). Meeting static and indifference wherever he goes - and being driven to anger by the assault on his Christian beliefs - Howie is very much a man alone and most likely in grave danger? Directed by Robin Hardy and adapted to screen by Anthony Shaffer from David Pinner's novel, Ritual, The Wicker Man is very much a cult masterpiece. The back stories to it could make a film all by itself, be it censor baiting, studio cuts, body doubles or just plain offending religious groups, it's a film that is well worth looking into via the top range home format releases. From the moment Howie (a truly brilliant Woodward) lands at Summerisle everything seems off, there's a sinister atmosphere pervading the story. He is met by unnerving imagery wherever he goes, songs and rituals gnawing away at his senses, there's even eroticism deftly placed within the film's master plan. He doesn't know what's going on, and neither do we, this is a mystery right? There is after all a missing child to be found, right? But once Lord Summerisle (Lee also terrific) enters proceedings and ups his game, things unravel in edgy fashion, building up to the justifiably famous and harrowing finale. Some modern horror fans may baulk at the lack of bloody carnage et al, but this is classic horror. A horror film bulging with intelligence and pulsing away with literate smarts. 9/10

Well the cinema was packed as we all sat though what seemed like an interminable preamble of interviews with those connected with the film - including Britt Ekland - before it all started. Was it worth it? Well, I didn't really think so. Policeman "Howie" (Edward Woodward) arrives on a remote Scottish island after reports that a girl has gone missing. He is perplexed by the seemingly indifferent attitude of the locals who claim that she never existed or her mother who claims that she is six feet under in the graveyard. He becomes even more bemused by the general attitude of the villagers - led by their laird "Lord Summerisle" (Christopher Lee) and taught by their not quite "Jean Brodie" schoolteacher "Miss Rose" (Diane Cilento) to life in cereal, and to his presence in particular. Soon, his investigation starts to lead him a merry dance as he begins to suspect something way more sinister is afoot - and boy, is he correct. Thing is, though, can he find and save the missing girl and get to the bottom of this mystery. To be fair, it does offer us a more sophisticated, almost mythological, approach to an horror movie loaded with mysticism and pagan ritual. Indeed, I don't know that it fits well into that genre at all - it's more of a psychological thriller populated by a decent cast of household names. The thing for me is the story. I just found it all a bit weak; it takes far, far too long to build up anything like an head of steam and is really rather over-scored with music that is left do too much of the heavy lifting when it comes to generating the sparing senses of peril this film elicits. Perhaps it isn't fair to look upon it critically forty years later, when so many of our sensitivities have been eroded away, but I really couldn't figure out quite what all the fuss was about. It's now a cult film - and maybe that says it all? Worth a watch, but a television leaves nothing missing, I'd say.