Le dieu d'osier

Many people have never seen or heard of this movie. The sad thing is that most young people now wouldn't appreciate its method of madness. The Wicker Man is almost like Psycho in the sense that it plays with the audiences' minds as well as the central character of the film. Its portrayal of the "pagan" religion is very impressive. Not some outrageous Hollywood devil-demon-blood-cult. The Wicker Man is a powerful, disturbing film and is one of the greatest films of the modern era. Christopher Lee is superb as well as Edward Woodward and the beautiful Britt Ekland. This movie is a true classic.

A girl has disappeared without a trace, so you head off to investigate the place, it's an island far away, the culture's different you might say, but you're overflowing faith, and full of grace. When you arrive, you find denial all around, there's no knowledge of the girl, no sight nor sound, still there's something not quite right, but with your knowledge and insight, you cover bases, meet lots of faces, but nothing's found.

It's not about good verses bad, it's more about what makes you mad, when you're confronted by those, who wear different clothes, and you find that you've always been had. There's a game that's perpetually played, by those who keep us, all afraid, that they all know better, that you are their debtor, it's a cascade, of decades crusades.

Interpretation is clearly the key!

"The Wicker Man" is damn near perfect for setting the foundation for so many folk horror films that followed. You can see its influence in "Midsommar" and even in some found-footage horror where outsiders stumble into hidden cults. The film taps into something primal; old traditions, ancient pagan beliefs, and a clash of cultures. It's a horror rooted in history and ritual, which makes it feel disturbingly real. Some people find the folk songs a bit jarring, especially if they go in expecting a traditional horror film. But honestly, the music adds to the eeriness; it lulls you into a false sense of warmth before the horror really sinks in. That final sequence is one of the most haunting conclusions in horror history. No jump scares, no last-minute rescues; just pure inevitability. The realization sinks in slowly, and by the time you hear "Sumer Is Icumen In" playing over that fiery climax, it's like watching a nightmare you can't wake up from. The film builds slowly. It's not a fast-paced horror with immediate scares or action, which might make it feel sluggish to modern audiences. But that slow-burn tension is part of what makes the ending hit so hard.

Years before Edward Woodward gained a measure of fame in the States as TV's Equalizer, he portrayed a dogged police detective poking around a remote Scottish island in search of the truth about a missing girl in Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man. His performance here is easily one of his best -- in order for the unbelievable and unthinkable story to succeed, Woodward must convince us that all of the unnerving events that take place throughout the movie are entirely plausible. He certainly convinced me, and I have never been able to forget the traumatic, harrowing conclusion of the film. Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt and the rest of the cast provide perfect counterpoint to Woodward's analytical outsider.

A quite unique and very creative mystery horror.

Superb acting from Edward Woodward as the prim Seargant Howie, and Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle. Fascinating from start to finish and a real twister of a plot that keeps you hooked right until the final twenty minutes, what appears at first sight to be an innocent search for a missing girl turns into a fascinating exploration of pagan rituals on a remote and sex obsessed Scottish island.

One of the best elements of the film is the classic early 70's folk soundtrack which gives indication of how the era in which this was filmed influenced the subject matter.

Definitely not a 'horror' in the true sense of the word, but more mysterious and chilling than any gore-fest. A quality piece of cinema!