Reviewed By
Ryan McDonald

Analysis
Yes, I’ve finally gotten out of the Dark Ages and now have a DVD player, and of course the first thing I went out and bought was “The Wicker Man”. (I got “Monty Python and the Holy Grail“, “Citizen Kane“ and others for Christmas, but that‘s enough about my sad and pathetic holidays spent watching DVD‘s in between worrying about getting a job…) For many years, the Director’s Cut of this now well-respected cult favourite was unavailable in my country, as in many places (And according to Christopher Lee on the DVD, there‘s an even longer version he believes to be out there somewhere, not that his colleagues seem to agree with him). I won’t be going into great detail about the differences between the versions, there are already many others who have opted to do that. All I will say is that it didn’t seem to be as different as I had expected after all these years (well, OK, so I was expecting more Ekland nude scenes, so sue me!), but the stuff that was originally cut out, is mostly pretty important (and a bit of it is indeed sexual, just not as much as I expected), especially in the integrating to the plot of the characters played by Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward.

What I will tell you is that this film is one of the strangest and most fascinating horror films ever made, and although I’m prone to hyperbole, I really do mean that. Now, usually at this stage, I’d be on to the acting department, and telling you all about the brilliant performances. I will do that, but for me, the main reasons for this film working so well is because of its truly unique (even today) vision, and the wonderful screenplay by Anthony Shaffer (whose background in mysteries like “Sleuth“ comes in handy here, with clues, hints and symbolism throughout for astute viewers). You’ve probably already heard this before, but you’ve unlikely to have seen anything quite like this film.

One of the essential things that the screenplay really does well is put the audience in a situation where they aren’t quite sure what to think or what to expect next. That is not to suggest only first-time viewers will enjoy this film, look at “Citizen Kane” for example, do people stop watching the film once they know what Rosebud is? (And let’s face it, most of us knew about it before seeing the film, same goes with “Planet of the Apes“). Just look at the Edward Woodward character, Sergeant Howie. He’s a devout Christian policeman who is understandably flustered to be investigating a child’s disappearance in a fairly strange land where locals claim to have never even heard of the girl- even her mother is no help. And yet, the way Howie conducts his investigation, indeed shouting ‘Bloody Heathens!’ at one point, does not endear him to the audience all that much. The local townsfolk may be staying mostly silent, but at least they’re relatively polite about it (if rather eccentric, but hey, I come from the land of Steve Irwin, Dame Edna and Mark ‘Chopper‘ Read), unlike Howie who sees activities he doesn’t even want to understand as being against (his) God and at one point, rudely disrupts a teacher (Australia’s own Diane Cilento, hey, if we can claim Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe, why not?) and her class in school hours, only to yell and accuse them of being heathen liars.

This is probably Edward Woodward’s finest ever performance, and definitely one of Christopher Lee’s best as well, and a lot of what is right about this film is due to them. Woodward’s Howie may be holier-than-thou, ignorant and preachy, but it is a tribute to him that by the end of the film we feel sympathy for him, and those final moments contain some of the most powerful scenes you are ever likely to bear witness to in a horror film. Similarly, Christopher Lee (a man who is still not getting the respect he deserves by critics as well as filmmakers who exploit or deceive him and do wrong to his many fans- not naming Peter ‘Oh, But He’ll Be in the money-making DVD’ Jackson, of course…I‘d never do that), as the local person of high stature, Lord Summerisle, is brilliant in the way that he makes it seem as though Howie is either a) Imposing his beliefs on others who have a right not to share the same beliefs or b) Howie has a topsy-turvy view of things, or perhaps it is a combination of both. Lee has always been great at conveying a dignified man and also a menacing or evil figure, his Lord Summerisle is a much more complex acting tightrope to be walking. You might even be able to make a case for him not even being a villain at all, though I’m not sure if I could quite make that claim about him myself.

And now we come to the supporting cast, which includes many locals who are non-professionals or at best local theatre-types, but also some wonderfully eccentric character actors many of you will or should be familiar with. Britt Ekland plays the seductive barmaid whose midnight striptease-dance routine very nearly corrupts poor Howie, getting all hot and bothered with her captivating, ritualistic dancing in the room next to his (he stays at the local inn whilst investigating matters). And don’t listen to the rumours, some of that nudity is indeed Ms. Ekland (and according to some, not all of her voice was dubbed either as it was long believed, though don‘t quote me on that one, I‘m sure a large portion of it is not her voice), but due to her being pregnant at the time (and perhaps some reasonably understandable vanity) her derrière shots were of somebody else’s rather lovely-looking bum. She doesn’t have much acting to do per se, but the film would be less effective without her. She was mostly cast for her then star power anyway (Hardy‘s comments about her on the audio commentary of the DVD are hilarious; a big pause and then ‘She‘s very pretty, isn‘t she?’- Classic stuff). Diane Cilento and everyone’s favourite Hammer babe Ingrid Pitt (“The Vampire Lovers”- one of Hammer’s best, though not as naughty as its reputation. It’s British after all) play the local school teacher and town librarian respectively, and add a unique flavour to things. Watching their blank faces as a bewildered (and practically fuming) Howie is feeling as though he’s getting the run-around is great fun. It’s a shame that Cilento didn’t join Pitt in re-enacting some scenes from “The Vampire Lovers”, by why carp? (especially when “Erotic Ghost Story” is on Australian TV this week. Woo-hoo!…um…I kinda need to meet a girl…real soon). Without question my favourite character actor in the film (aside from Lee, but he’s been a leading man quite often too) is quirky Aubrey Morris as the gardener/grave-digger. The guy joins Michael J. Pollard, Donald Pleasence and Brad Dourif in his mastering of quirky, often demented character parts, if only because he looks so darn kooky, especially in the song/dance bit at the climax (one of the all-time great climaxes in horror movies, along with “Don‘t Look Now“ and Tod Browning‘s “Freaks“). However, it’s his first scene (he’s hardly in the film at all, but very memorable) where he shows Howie a tree that contains traces of a human navel (or some body part, I think it was the navel area) that really creeped me out, he seems so nonchalant about the whole thing.

Aside from the lovely, yet somewhat mysterious Scottish scenery, the film also boasts an interesting selection of musical numbers. Apparently these are a hodge-podge of various folk tunes of old, that make audiences of today think about the true meanings, or origins of popular songs we grew up with (I can think of at least one popular nursery rhyme that many people don‘t know was actually about the black plague, at least from what I‘ve heard). Some people find the songs distracting in a horror film (I might even argue that it‘s not really a horror film so much as a Satanically-themed murder mystery, but hey, it‘s been known as horror since 1973, why bother harping on?), and believe me when I tell you that I absolutely hate the musical more than any other genre (tenfold if it has Barbara Streisand, Danny Kaye, Doris Day or Howard Keel), but the music is vital to the flavour of the film. In fact, the music has a creepy tinge to it, especially the final number (and boy do Christopher Lee and Aubrey Morris in particular perform it with gusto, if not maniacal glee).

Key Area	Rating (out of 5)	Comment
Action	None	Not action-oriented at all, despite the main character being a cop.
Tension		You are constantly wondering what is in store for this self-righteous, but well-meaning bloke. A sense of dread and mystery throughout, though the supernatural or satanic is not always at the fore
Violence/ Gore		Not terribly explicit in terms of violence, there’s an extremely fake-looking severed head but like many fine horror films, much is left to the imagination.
Bare Flesh		A minor treasure trove. Whether it’s a double or not, Britt Ekland’s character gets naked, we see her bum and boobs, and there are flashes of nudity (including Ingrid Pitt in a bath) in other places.
Plot		A brilliant story that may seem like a simple investigation at first with a clear hero and villain(s), but as it unravels, the lines are wonderfully blurred and the audience is captivated (though some argue the shorter version is less predictable).

Verdict Not necessarily one for the “Scream” generation, this is one of the most peculiar and effectively unsettling horror films ever made, and it’s predominantly due to story, acting, characters, and production elements rather than violence or ’jump’ scenes.

Movie Pictures (Click picture to enlarge)