SYNOPSIS
A policeman from the mainland arrives at a Hebridean isle, where villagers practice Celtic pagan belief, to investigate the disappearance of a young girl.
OPINION
What else remains unsaid about The Wicker Man? I'm not even sure it should have made the list, but I must insist: if you haven't seen it, do so. Despite its contemporaneously imperfect approach to Hebridean life and uh, women in general, it remains an obsessively watchable thriller about belief, destiny, and creepy animal masks. It manages, just barely, to avoid issuing a bald judgment on the subjects it covers; instead, it contents itself with setting up the pieces and letting them ricochet to an inevitable finale. It may not scare you, but it will unnerve you, and it may make you question the way you relate to the world around you. The Wicker Man remains a powerful tale of morality at play.
CAST + CREW
Director: Robin Hardy (The Fantasist, The Wicker Tree)
Cast: Edward Woodward (Breaker Morant, Hot Fuzz)
Britt Ekland (The Night They Raided Minsky's, Get Carter)
Christopher Lee (Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Stupids)
CONTENT (spoilered; highlight for warnings)
violence against animals, immolation, pagan sexuality
CAREER STATS [on a scale from 1 (least) to 10 (most)]
FUN: 7
A rollicking mystery offset by sexy pagan bizarrenesses.
SCARINESS: 5
Mysterious and imagistic more than spooky, but still spooky!
INTENSITY: 7
Nooses tighten, threats creep in, and the ending is potent.
RECOMMENDABILITY: 8
An acknowledged classic that still holds its power.
SEE ALSO:
Midsommar, The Wicker Tree, Suspiria (2018), Apostle
