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| Took a bit of searching to find a poster that doesn't feature the FINAL SCENE OF THE MOVIE |
“I think I could turn and live with animals. They are so placid and self-contained. They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins. They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God. Not one of them kneels to another or to his own kind that lived thousands of years ago. Not one of them is respectable or unhappy, all over the earth. ”
-Lord Summerisle
Directed by: Robin Hardy
Starring: Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, Christopher Lee
Trailer/Video: Watch it if you want, but be warned that it's VERY spoilery (of course, my review probably is, too)
The premise: A devoutly Christian Scottish police officer has come to a pagan island to investigate the case of a missing child.
My Familiarity With the Movie: I’d heard of the remake, and had laughed at some clips of it before finding out it was a remake. This was several years ago. Didn’t get around to watching it until now.
Random thoughts as I watch it:
- “Dinghy” is an inherently funny word
- There’s some great folk music in this flick.
- A lot of people think of Saruman or Dracula when they think of the late Sir Christopher Lee...I think of the AWESOME metal albums he put out about his ancestor, Charlemagne (that song is good, but the heavier remake of it in Lee’s sequel album is even better).
- I’m not really sure if this counts as a “horror” film, to be honest. It’s really good so far, but it feels like more of a mystery, and doesn’t really make much of an effort to be scary.
- I feel like this movie isn’t a particularly flattering portrayal of either Christians or practitioners of Celtic Paganism.
- It does make one wonder, though. Does Summerisle actually believe the religion his grandfather founded, or is he using it as a method to manipulate the population of the island?
- So much good music.
- I feel that the children’s masks are the movie’s first attempt to actually be scary.
- I dig this montage of Howie searching the island.
- Looks like the population of his island isn’t the only people that Summerisle can manipulate. He played Howie like a fiddle.
- Despite him being a narrow-minded prudish blowhard, Sgt. Howie comes across like a decent, likable guy, and he definitely doesn’t deserve this treatment, which is undoubtedly the scariest part of the film, and heartbreakingly tragic.
The Good:
- Our cast of characters, from the uptight Howie, to the promiscuous Willow, to the charming and sinister Lord Summerisle. All the actors put in a great performance making their characters entertaining and memorable.
- The mystery at the heart of the story. It’s paced so that the audience pieces things together at the same rate that Howie does.
- A fantastic soundtrack, with classic Scottish folk music, bawdy songs, and even a nursery rhyme help give the movie its unique flavor.
The Bad:
- Honestly, this really isn’t a fault of the movie itself, but I hesitate to call it a horror movie. It’s classified as one everywhere and has been called “the Citizen Kane of horror film” even though there’s (aside from the general spookiness of the island and its inhabitants) only really one “scary” moment (to be fair, it’s one hell of a moment).
Best Scare: Like there’s any question. The final scene with the titular Wicker Man.
What Did We Learn Today? It's much too dangerous to jump the fire with your clothes on.
Recommended? Not as a horror movie, but as a classic British film, definitely.
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