It tops the ballot of the 50 best British horror movies, in line with readers of Horrified Magazine, whereas the Guardian pitches it at quantity 4 in its record of the 25 best horror movies.
David Bartholomew of Cinefantastique journal described The Wicker Man as “the Citizen Kane of horror movies”. Bizarrely, it even has its personal rollercoaster trip within the British theme park Alton Towers. Made of wooden, naturally.
But when the movie was launched again in 1973, the studio behind it – British Lion – tried to bury it with a restricted launch. It was briefly tacked on because the supporting function in a double invoice with Nicolas Roeg’s atmospheric psychological thriller Don’t Look Now.
However, The Wicker Man has grown in stature over time and is now thought-about a cult basic. A exceptional change in fortunes for a movie described by its personal music designer, Gary Carpenter, as being about “semi-mystical occult shit”.
The movie was directed by novice Robin Hardy and written by Anthony Shaffer, a reputable dramatist who had simply completed working with Alfred Hitchcock on Frenzy (1972). But the manufacturing gained traction with the assist of Christopher Lee who would tackle the position of charismatic cult chief Lord Summerisle.
Lee, by that time an enormous star and cemented within the public creativeness as Count Dracula (of Hammer Horror fame), gave a lot of his time to make sure the manufacturing bought off the bottom.
Reversal of horror tropes
It’s an unsettling story that commences with the arrival of religious Christian police officer (Sergeant Howie, performed convincingly by Edward Woodward) on the distant island group of Summerisle, looking for a lacking lady.
Hardy has defined that they key to understanding the enchantment of the movie is that it’s a satisfying puzzle that rewards repeat viewing:
Essentially, one should consider The Wicker Man as a sport, with clues progressively suggesting Summerisle isn’t run in accordance with the Christian values of Sergeant Howie. Setting it in Scotland was essential: within the early Seventies, Christianity was nonetheless broadly practised, and it had a really puritan side.
The viewers share Howie’s narrative viewpoint, experiencing the island for the primary time and noticing, as he does, the peculiarities and practices of a group at odds with typical society. From the candy store window with its phallic confectionary to the {couples} brazenly copulating after an evening on the Green Man pub, the sense of weirdness is palpable.
As Howie’s investigation progresses, it turns into clear that the group have embraced a lifestyle that rejects Christian values in favour of pagan rites and rituals. From the hapless beetle tethered to a nail within the schoolroom to the inserting of a frog within the mouth of a kid affected by a sore throat, that is an remoted group dedicated to an alternate perception system. The movie succeeds in tapping right into a wealthy repertoire of people imagery to construct incrementally to its harrowing conclusion.
It transpires the investigation is a lure rigorously orchestrated by the islanders to safe an acceptable human sacrifice for his or her May Day celebrations to rectify the drought that has blighted their apple harvest. Howie’s destiny is sealed in a large wicker effigy set alight in entrance of the islanders.
The story derives a lot of its energy from its thrilling reversal of the commonplace horror trope that sees younger ladies victimised. Rather, it provides a “male in peril” story made all of the extra terrifying as a result of the person in query is an upstanding authority determine, a person completely satisfied of the rightness of his convictions.
The movie used round 25 completely different areas in Scotland. These served the manufacturing nicely regardless of infamous filming circumstances. The early summer season setting was in actual fact shot from October by to November.
It stays a wealthy slice of cultural geography with a vivid sense of place that’s totally in line with the people horror of the subject material. It feels genuine. Diehard followers can observe The Wicker Man path, a tour of essentially the most well-known filming areas equivalent to Anwoth Kirk, Culzean Castle, Plockton and Kircudbright, amongst others.
Shocking ending
The movie additionally options spectacular manufacturing design regardless of its comparatively modest price range. There are some movie sequences that dwell lengthy within the creativeness due to the sheer scale of the manufacturing and the evident dedication to the craft of particular results.
Great movies are exceptional for pushing the envelope by way of what could be achieved with their manufacturing design: consider the burning of Atlanta sequences in Gone with the Wind (1939) or Skull Island in King Kong (1933). The Wicker Man has such a sequence to rival something seen in movie historical past.
As the May Day celebrations snake all the way down to the seashore it’s revealed that the lacking lady is alive and nicely in spite of everything: Howie has been duped. Lord Summerisle patiently explains to Howie his destiny has been predetermined from the outset and he’s then forcibly hoisted into a large wicker colossus (alongside a quantity animals) the place he’s to be burned alive.
Drawing on tales of druid sacrificial rituals, the sequence supplies probably the most haunting spectacles in movie historical past. The ending is horrifying as a result of it’s a “reveal”: that is what the islanders had in thoughts all alongside. Howie’s entrapment is our entrapment: we too have been fooled.
The very drab ordinariness of Summerisle with its candy store and put up workplace, cosy village pub and modest schoolhouse, conceals a group enthusiastically dedicated to human sacrifice. The surprising ending could be instrumental in elevating the movie and securing The Wicker Man’s place within the horror movie canon.
Gill Jamieson doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that may profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.