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Overall Rating : 7.5/10
Directed By : Robin Hardy
Edward Woodward (The Equalizer (TV)
Christopher Lee (The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy)
Ingrid Pitt (The House that Dripped Blood)
Britt Ekland (The Monster Club)
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Dec. 15, 2006
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| PLOT When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But this pastoral community, led by the strange Lord Summerisle, is not what it seems as the devout Christian detective soon uncovers a secret society of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy. Can Howie now stop the cult’s ultimate sacrifice before he himself comes face-to-face with the horror of THE WICKER MAN? |
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| THE REVIEW From Anchor Bay comes the 2 disc Special Edition of Director Robin Hardy and Writer Anthony Shaffer's classic tale THE WICKER MAN. The 2 discs consists of both the US theatrical release of the film as well as a never before released in the states, extended cut, (99 mins in length) with also commentary and interviews - with the many versions of this in existence this release appears to be the most definitive. In the film, we begin by meeting Police Sergeant Howie, whom has just landed his plane on a remote scottish island called Summerisle. Howie, is search of a missing girl, Rowan Morrison begins to question everyone on the isle, from the adults to children, but unfortunately, it seems no one has seen nor heard of her before. Upon staying a little while on the island he finds that the inhabitants behavior and customs are awfully strange, and furthermore it all makes the Sergeant uncomfortable to say the least. Howie, a Christian with strong beliefs, is a bit taken back when he finds out the the island's practices and lifestyle is unorthodox and sacrilegious. He finds that children are openly taught about sex, and nudity is deemed moral, and above all else that resurrection is not a thing they believe in, but they do rather believe in reincarnation, Throughout the film, Sergeant Howie's believes are tested as he witnesses the moral corruption before him, as well as having to fend off the seduction of a beautiful young lady(in which he goes weak for), After much questioning the town finally confesses the girl in which he is searching has died, but by not believing their words, he digs deeper into their religion - Paganism. In the books, it is explained that every year on the first of May, Pagans celebrate what they call May Day, in which the towns people, most of them dressing as some form of animal, sing and dance, but the most important part of the yearly celebration is being a sacrifice. If for the year, the village crops have grown plentiful, the village priest( in this case being Lord Summerisle) and followers sacrifice an animal to their gods as a matter of repaying the gift of the crops, and if to say the crops had not grown for that year, in strange consequences, a human shall be given to the gods. Since it is apparent that the crops had not grown, the Sergeant believes that since the little girl he has been searching for is most likely still alive, she has been declared the chosen sacrifice by the group. In short, Howie dresses up and infiltrates the party in order to find Rowan, but when he finds her, reality sets in and he realizes that he just may very well have been set up by the strange clan, and that his fate could be quite bizarre Well first things first, this was actually my first time ever seeing THE WICKER MAN, as I had always for some reason avoided it, I guess it was out of sheer disinterest. Now when this year's remake popped up, I knew I would probably be seeing this, as I like see the originals before hand if I had not already. What we have here is a rather simple story of a Police Sergeant investigation the disappearance of a local girl, and when he arrives on the island, he finds a cult-like atmosphere and activities against his religious believes. This film is both strange and intriguing, the people are just weird to watch, but at the same time interesting. The village on the island of Summerisle, seems to be like no society, I ever see, as the female school children openly talk about such things as the penis and sex, and the adults run around practicing fire rituals in the nude. I for one have no idea if an island like this exists in the world, but if there happens to be one, I want to check it out. The film's story, although as I said, the plot being basic is more less a character study into the world of a very unusual religious culture, and how one Christian man's believes stack up against their own, I can't say that I have seen a film more strange than THE WICKER MAN itself as it is very well in a league it's very own, here I was watching the seemingly normal film and then just all of the villagers break out in a song and dance, ala GREASE or something. At such scenes I was exclaiming "What the Hell" in my head, but after awhile you just have to agree that this is how these people live, and as bizarre as they may be, the tunes they all sing in unison become rather catchy - you must admit! The acting here, is outstanding by all Edward Woodward is great as the devout Christian trapped on an island of filth and corrosion. Christopher Lee plays Lord Summerisle, leader and seemingly biggest follower of the isle's religion. When I first read that the leader's name was Lord Summerisle, I initially thought he would be one to don a cape and maybe the cliché crown and septor, but her he is portrayed as having normalcy,,,,albeit he is a little whacked in the head. But folks I have to tell you, my favorite character(as for many other's) is Willow, Willow is portrayed by Britt Ekland whom has to be one of the most classically beautiful women in the world....she just melted my screen, and her naked dance/seducing of Howie(although some the "butt shots" are said to be a body double due to a pregnancy) is something I will never forget! Overall THE WICKER MAN, has a cleverly original story(something that is likely never to be said of the remake), that is as bizarre as it is interesting. This is a film that had my attention all the way from beginning to end, as I couldn't wait to see it all unfold, it also has a sort of twist ending that is as unique as the film it concludes - in my opinion this is an excellent film and definitely a classic! |
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| GORE
METER N/A No gore, but very suggestive. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5/10 The soundtrack mostly composed of songs sung by the townspeople.... and they do become quite addicting, as does "Willow's Song". |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM As I said, this is a very brilliant film and you would be pressed to find another quite like it - similar yes, but nothing like it. When thinking of the now current remake, the thought is nightmarish - I can't imagine it being anywhere near as good as this classic - but nonetheless I hope to see it soon. As for the original - it is highly recommended. This DVD will be released December 19, 2006 |
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