The Wicker Man (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Wicker Man is a film about a pious Catholic sergeant's visit to a small island off the coast of Scotland called the Island of Summerisle. His name is Neil and he is there to investigate the disappearance of a girl. His investigation reveals that the island is enamored with a neo-pagan religion. They worship the sun instead of Jesus. They engage in pagan fertility rituals instead of Neil's proud pre-marital chastity. They believe in reincarnation where the Christian canon Neil is devoted to does not. As if the islanders are telepathically connected, Neil receives absolutely no help from anyone in his investigation. He gradually puts together more and more details about the inhabitants' practices and is suspicious of everyone.

A May Day festival approaches and Neil becomes concerned that the girl who is missing may indeed be the latest sacrifice to appease nature. But as the Island owner Lord Summerisle reveals, Neil too is a virgin and is both wise and foolish. He comes as a king representing Her Majesty's government. He also arrives to a place of sacrifice by his own free will. The final sequence of the Wicker Man is the ultimate warning toward blind faith. Anyone who misses the point here, like the makers of the 2006 remake of the Wicker Man did, will clearly find little resolution in the end but others willing to enjoy and exercise their imagination a little bit will have much to mull over.

The film's music is one of its strengths and the detail of the pagan references and how they are convenient roots to many Christian traditions (i.e. Easter icons and Beltane or May Day) help to make the overall vision of the Wicker Man even more compelling. All of the elements within the film melt together and everyone working it must've understood these ideas in perspective.

The funny thing about the Wicker Man is it is often referred to as a Horror film. There really isn't anything else to call it but it is almost too unique and exceptional to be deemed a horror film. It isn't scary like a typical horror film is. It doesn't elicit fear and disgust the way all other horror films have. There are no zombies, vampires or murdering sociopaths. There are no supernatural forces and there is little blood to be spilled. It isn't characterized by that one note creepy music or menacing Hitchcockian suspense. It doesn't rely on knives and masked killers stalking in the night. It doesn't even need a seemingly indestructible villain. The Wicker Man is a film that relies exclusively on its all encompassing atmosphere and it also relies on our own understandings of religion and faith. It is sunny, it is bright, it is cheerful, but for all of the wrong reasons to many of us. It is compelling all throughout. Somehow on this island paganism resurfaced and the worshippers are fiercely and irrationally devout. That point's layers of commentary aside, the Wicker Man is very much a horror film and it is probably more intelligent than any other movies within its genre.

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There is a well known addage in movies that we all get what we have coming to us. The same can be said of this movie, whether in regards to the protagonist or the viewer his or herself. To begin with, I saw a version of the Wicker Man on video years ago and wouldn't have even given it a star for a rating. The story was chopped up so badly that I felt like the editor had gone to work on me instead. The limited edition presents the theatrical release and the 'European version' of the film. A big note of thanks should go to Anchor Bay for seeing that the story line makes better sense this time-and this goes for both versions.
To get down to it, this is a movie about sex, or the fertility rites of a certain island just west of Britain in the springtime. Edward Woodward does a fine job as a police inspector duty-tied to both his job and his religion. Everyone else, including Christopher Lee seems superflous, however. Oddly enough, this almost seems to work for the movie, which is in effect about unresolved sex and red herrings. Considering the overt sexuality and eroticism of the movie, I found the ending to be a little disturbing. The movie itself can be said to be a metaphor about the dangers of falling down the wrong rabbit hole after you have tried long and hard enough to do so.
Voyeurs be warned, there is no actual love making going on on screen. Yet, this is a very sexy and erotic movie, which I guess serves to make the ending more disturbing. Visually, this film is first class. Shot on location, the outside shots are gorgeous.
Wicker Man is not what you would call the most nailbiting of horror movies. The answer of whether our protagonist gets the ending suited to him will probably be found by asking the question of whether you deserved to sit and watch this film for its eighty some odd minutes. There are many better movies out there that deserved a limited edition release more than this one. The film that comes most to mind is "Vampire Circus", a movie that has consistently been rated highly by critics, and that has been conspicuously left unreleased by Anchor Bay. Hopefully they will come around and give THAT film the release it receives.