The Wicker Man (1973)

User Review

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  Barneyonmovies

  6 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: As a Copper (Edward Woodward) heads to a private Scottish Island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Robin Hardy's 'The Wicker Man,' pits a suspicious, puritan Christian against a bunch of naturist Pagans.
  
  That's a somewhat interesting premise, particularly as the wild goose chase he's on occasionally has you wondering whether his fears - that the locals are all loons who killed the girl in some kind of ritualistic sacrifice - are misplaced, and that the film might make some statement about trusting hippie types even if they appear to be weird.
  
  In the end though, the Policeman's Puritan perspective prevails; not least because the Pagans are mostly painted as a bunch of strange cultists (complete with nude dances, evil leader (Christopher Lee), animal flesh hanging on trees, sexualisation of the pub landlord's daughter (Britt Ekland), and the scary indoctrination of children) but also because their evil is unabashedly proved in the end when they offer up a sacrifice in the infamous (and visually arresting) final burning sequence.
  
  The most compelling thing about the story is actually the mystery about the missing girl, and that's only emphasised by Woodward's increasingly suspicious and frustrated performance, and the way the locals mysteriously avoid his probes and questions.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Sure some of the Pagan ritual sequences get a little tiring, but mostly it seems a shame that the film has such a cynical message (and not your typically the cool, anti-authoritarian 70s way).
  
  VERDICT: 'The Wicker Man,' is a compelling and strange mystery with a surprisingly disturbing and cynical resolution.

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