The Wicker Man (1973)

Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, and Britt Ekland
Grade: B

It doesn’t get talked about enough, but Britt Ekland is something, isn’t she?

Summary

Things begin with a fake “Thank You” caption to the people of Summerisle.

Sgt. Neil Howie (Woodward) flies a seaplane to Summerisle, an island off the Scottish coast. He lands and asks the curious citizens that flock by the coast to send over a dinghy. They tell him the island is private property, and he needs written permission to be here. However, Howie explains he’s a police officer investigating a complaint from a resident of the island about a missing child. Private property or not, this is a police matter, so they have to bring him in. They mention that Lord Summerisle (Lee) is particular about who lands here, but Howie deflects it by showing them a picture of the missing child, Rowan Morrison. Apparently, none of them have seen her. They even suggest she isn’t from the island. Howie reads off the letter addressed to him and says Rowan is the daughter of Summerisle resident May Morrison (Irene Sunter), and she’s been missing for many months. The group knows May, and they tell Howie she works at the post office, though they say Rowan is not her daughter.

Howie goes to meet May and questions her about her daughter Rowan, but she says that her only daughter is Myrtle. After talking with Myrtle for a bit, he heads to a bar/inn that night. When he walks in, the entire room of people stop what they are doing and watch as he interacts with the owner there. The guy lets him stay there for the night and after their conversation, he lets his daughter Willow (Ekland) show him to his room. After the patrons of the bar sing about her for some reason, Howie stops it by gathering everyone’s attention to tell him he’s there to find where Rowan Morrison is. He shows the picture around, but everyone insists they don’t know her. Soon after, Howie takes a look at some pictures on the wall of the bar, with each picture noting a specific year of a harvest festival. One girl is in each picture. However, the most recent one is missing. Apparently, the picture broke. After he’s served dinner by Willow, he goes outside, only to see a random orgy in a field, along with a naked woman crying at a tombstone. Disgusted and outraged, Howie heads straight to his room, says his prayers, and calls it a night. However, as he tries to sleep, Willow is in the other room trying to serenade him, completely naked. Though it’s difficult for him (as it would be for anyone), he is able to force himself to go to sleep instead.

In the morning, Willow wakes him up and asks why he didn’t come to her room. He reveals he’s engaged, and he’s also a virgin. She then changes the subject, saying he wouldn’t want to be here for their celebration of “May Day” coming up soon. Later, Howie goes to a children’s classroom for questioning and overhears the teacher tell the children that the maypole they venerate is a phallic symbol because the penis represents the generative force in nature. Howie takes the teacher aside and tells her how fucked up that is and gets the attention of the class to ask them about Rowan and if they know of her whereabouts. The kids deny they know her, as does the teacher, but Howie demands to see the school registry. In the registry book, he finds Rowan’s name and home address at the post office, proving they’re all liars. The teacher takes Howie to talk outside after he yells at the classroom of girls, and she explains that Rowan is dead in the literal sense. However, they don’t see it that way in their religion, as they believe her soul has returned to energize the trees and animals and such. Howie is a devout Christian and is highly offended at these pagan suggestions, but she tells him the children find it much easier to believe in reincarnation rather than resurrection. Demanding to know where the body lies, he’s told it’s in the churchyard.

Howie goes to investigate and talks with the groundskeeper who plants trees on each of the graves. A rowan tree is planted where Rowan lies. On the tree hangs Rowan’s naval string. Howie storms out to the post office to find May Morrison put a literal frog in Myrtle’s mouth to cure her sore throat. She then pulls it out. Realizing that she’s a lost cause, Howie heads over to an office containing the registry of deaths, births, and marriages, demanding to see their index of deaths specifically. The worker refuses at first because Howie doesn’t have permission from Lord Summerisle, but he threatens to arrest her, so she relents. In the index, there is no record of Rowan’s death. He asks the worker if she knows her, and she says she does but doesn’t give any information following that.

After questioning the photographer that took a picture of the festival girls, and him giving Howie nothing, his search leads him directly to the mansion of Lord Summerisle. Something is fishy about this island, if this wasn’t already clear, and Sgt. Howie has become more determined than ever to figure out where this girl is.

My Thoughts:

The Wicker Man is considered to be one of the best horror films, and one of the best British films, of all time. There are a lot of elements that I found very entertaining, but I didn’t think it was that good. It’s not very scary. At most, I would describe it as more unsettling, or even slightly disturbing. I wasn’t really horrified, but I definitely was hooked on the story because uncovering the secrets of Summerisle was kind of interesting. Will I say it was a let-down? Not necessarily, but I wasn’t shocked or anything either. This may be the issue of watching too many movies because I imagine the idea of paganism and sacrifice was probably scary stuff in the 70s, but I can’t sit there and act like I was losing my shit in the present. So, though I was very much invested, I can’t say I was terrified as a modern viewer.

It did however have my attention.

Edward Woodward’s Sgt. Howie was very good and his devotion to Christianity was admirable in the context of the film. I imagine some may find that idea too preachy, but I thought the character translated well into the hero because of Woodward’s commitment to the character’s ideals. At no point did I find his ranting annoying, if that it is what you were worried about. The idea of “Christianity vs. Paganism” being the overarching story was exciting and everyone acting as if this island is one big cult that follows Lord Summerisle blindly, believing in the lies he feeds them to the bitter end, with Howie being the only sane one, is a compelling story to watch unfold. Christopher Lee was fantastic as the leader of the demented island and though he’s the clear mastermind of all this evil, he still possesses a classy radiance to his character. He’s not an imposing figure, but he is a leader. He’s also very welcoming and is able to challenge Howie very well in his arguments, even daring him to check the grave of Rowan at one point. The man exudes confidence, but Christopher Lee is knighted after all, so it makes sense. Regardless of how I feel about the film as a whole, I’ll admit that the buildup is very good. I was getting very excited to see how crazy this ending would be because you can just tell the blow off is going to be huge. The last half hour is very entrancing. It seemed liked everything was working at one point. The shaky camera during some of the action, the imagery involving the costumes and masks of the ritual proceedings, and the seriousness of Lord Summerisle during the ending makes the payoff unforgettable.

The ending in particular has to be one of the better one’s you may ever see (as long as you haven’t had the ending spoiled by watching the 2006 remake first).

When you hear those bone-chilling words from Lee, “It is time to keep your appointment with the Wicker Man”, you realize you’re about to see something extraordinary.

The main thing that hurt my focus on The Wicker Man was the random musical interludes. It was all cheery music, and it throws you off. It doesn’t come off as creepy, it just doesn’t fit. I don’t even know if generic horror music would work either. I think silence would’ve made the difference, or weird enhanced noises to make things sound blood-curdling. This would’ve helped. The only time the music worked was the sequence in which Britt Ekland’s Willow sings to Howie through the wall. Not only was the song mesmerizing, because of the voice of Rachel Verney who sang Willow’s words, but it worked for the scene. It also wasn’t too much to not fit the tone of the film, compared to almost all of the other songs that were. One major example of this is the song that all the members of the bar sang about Willow and how they all wanted to fuck her. It was weird. Plus, they all sang it in front of her father, even though they both laughed it off. Initially, it made me think that this was just going to be some weird ass musical. It didn’t work at all and for some reason, they decide to have more of these musical moments. I just kept thinking that every single time, these moments of tension and weirdness were ruined because of these upbeat songs and naked women dancing.

How is this supposed to creep me out? It’s like they don’t even know me! A lot of us like upbeat songs and naked women. Am I supposed to be afraid or something? The only times you do feel uncomfortable are when these characters talk about their pagan beliefs. Seeing a jar labeled “foreskins” was pretty weird too but also kind of funny when you think about it.

The one cheery song that worked was in the ending because when you watch it in context, within the madness of everything you see leading up until that point, it really works.

The Wicker Man is overrated in terms of its top-notch ratings from critics, but it’s still pretty good due to the interest in the slow-burning storyline, the tension of the buildup, our two stars, and the iconic ending. You won’t be scared to the point where you want to close your eyes, but this is actually a good thing. Your eyes want to stay open because you become entrenched in the mystery you’re about to uncover. Because of this, it’s an enjoyable experience, even though I don’t think it’s as good as they say it is.

Fun Fact: Michael York and David Hemmings declined the part of Sgt. Howie.