The Wicker Man
From the makers of The Chia Pet
I never understood
the saying “You need some of that old-time religion.” What
exactly does that mean? If the speaker is referencing Jesus or
Christianity, then they're way off. If you want to talk about
“old-time religion” you better be referencing the god of the
harvest a while wearing goat leggings and singing a jig in a
long-dead language. The term pagan is thrown around a lot nowadays in
reference to many different things, but it's important to remember
that there are people still to this day that actually practice the
“old-time religion”.
The Wicker Man is a
1973 British horror film starring Edward Woodward as Sergeant Neil
Howie (Hot Fuzz, King David) and Christopher Lee (Lord Of The Rings,
Dracula) as Lord Summerisle. Sergeant Howie receives an anonymous
letter requesting his assistance in the case of a missing girl on the
tiny isle of Summerisle. Howie must travel by small plane to get to
the island and can only get to shore by rowboat. He begins asking the
town people about the girl he is searching for, Rowan Morrison, but
the all claim to never have heard of her. The people of the island
have a strange way about them and it makes Howie, a devout Christian,
incredibly uncomfortable. The sing songs about the harvest, have sex
in open fields, discuss the importance of the phallic nature of the
maypole, and use old forms of medicine. Howie stays at a local inn
while continuing his investigation and notices photographs from the
island's yearly harvest. Last year's photo is missing and he is told
that someone accidentally broke it. At night, Howie is tempted by the
innkeeper's daughter Willow (Britt Ekland, The Man With The Golden
Gun, Satan's Mistress), but he refuses, explaining that he is a
virgin and doesn't believe in sex before marriage. He travels to the
school, where he discovers more evidence that Rowan Morrison did, in
fact, live on the island. Howie speaks with the leader of the island,
Lord Summerisle, about his investigation. Summerisle tells Howie of
the islands history, explaining that his grandfather came to the
island and developed a new strain of fruit that he believed could
thrive in their climate. He instilled in the population the idea that
if they prayed to the old gods, that the crops would grow and they
would thrive. With the old ways also came sacrifices to the gods to
ensure good crops. Howie discovers Rowan's grave and unearths her
coffin only to discover a dead rabbit inside. He also finds that
Rowan is in the missing picture of last year's harvest, standing
amongst a poor crop. He believes that she will be sacrificed on May
Day, which is tomorrow. Will Sergeant Howie be able to save her and
is everything on Summerisle as it appears to be?
"As you can see, the Wicker Man is quite roomy and has a lovely view."
Ignore everything
you heard about the horrendous remake of The Wicker Man that came out
a few years ago starring Nicholas Cage. That movie is an abomination.
Thankfully, the original Wicker Man is highly enjoyable thanks to
it's great acting, solid writing, and fun mystery. The movie doesn't
start out suspenseful, allowing the fear and anxiety to grow over
time. Some movies are all suspense all the time and it wears out the
audience. The Wicker Man takes it's time while still having an
appropriate pace and surprises the audience without resorting to
quick “jump at you” moments or gory violence. The audience gets
sucked into the mystery of Rowan Morrison and follows along with
Sergeant Howie as he traverses this strange island. The story is
really, really good, never tipping it's hand until the final act when
the movie truly becomes horror. The scene where Howie finally “meets”
the wicker man is both terrifying and deflating as we know his fate.
While the story is
very good, it's the acting in the movie that really makes it great.
Edward Woodward represents the Christian world and, to a lesser
extent, the audience. He epitomizes the term “stiff upper lip”
trying to keep his composure in a a land full of strange customs and
acts. Christopher Lee is equally great Lord Summerisle. While he and
the rest of the people are technically the villagers, the conduct
themselves with a smile, something that most horror movies do not do.
This makes the movie very unnerving the horror that much scarier.
They are true believers, committing acts that others would deem
barbaric all in the hopes of having a good life. Throughout the
movie, we hear various pagan songs from the people and admittedly
they are very catchy. Christopher Lee is actually a
classically-trained singer and his iconic voice sounds great in the
movie. He actually released a symphonic metal metal album and a heavy
metal album a few years back. It's not bad, but you have to watch
this ridiculous music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvKRbi2ovDY.
Touchdown!
The Wicker Man is
occult horror without the flaming pentagrams and shouts to the devil.
The movie doesn't require blood and gore or jump at you moments in
order to be scary. The story has a great mixture of mystery and
suspense that keeps the audience wanting to see more. The ending is
fantastic and comes as quite a shock to the system without having to
relying on a major twist. The acting is great with Christopher Lee
and Edward Woodward putting in fantastic performances. The movie does
bring up the power of religion and beliefs, but you can interpret
that in however way you like. Wicker Man is a classic for a reason,
but be sure to skip the remake. A “spiritual” sequel was released
in 2011 and there is work on a third film entitled The Wrath Of The
Gods. If you're thinking of checking those out, be sure to start with
the original.
9/10
