The Wicker Man (4K Review)

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Where to start with this one? It’s interesting to think how many modern horror fans probably haven’t seen The Wicker Man. Some of us maybe saw the release of the directors cut in the early 2000s. Most likely on DVD (who could afford Blu-ray’s back then?), with it’s poor quality additional scenes marking their presence conspicuously. There was the release of ‘The Final Cut’ in 2013 that bridged the two versions, Theatrical and Director’s, that cleaned up some of that grain and honed the pacing. This ‘Final Cut’ is presented on the first disc of this new set, suggesting that it is perhaps the one we should prioritise.

Ari Aster’s Midsommar awakened a fascination with folk horror in 2019. With obvious comparisons being made between the two modern but ancient cult related films, despite their varying themes. The similarities are there of course, the manipulation and trickery to lure an unsuspecting outsider to their fate, alongside an ambiguous moral perspective on the cults themselves.

We should probably mention the remake too, just to acknowledge it’s existence. Despite it’s main influence on popular culture being a gif of Nicholas Cage’s head covered in bees.

Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward), a devout Christian policeman from the Scottish mainland, flies solo to Summerisle. A remote island with a mysteriously warm climate that lends itself to a healthy trade in fruits and vegetables. He has been sent a letter about the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison.

When he arrives, he finds it difficult to get a straight answer from the eccentric residents. Rowan’s mother claims to know nothing of her, others give vague half truths as to her whereabouts and fate. Howie observes various practices that shock him; public sex acts, desecration of his sacred church, young naked virgins jumping through fire with the hope of triggering a spontaneous pregnancy. As Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) hilariously says – “you can’t jump through fire with clothes on, it’s far too dangerous”.

Howie continues his investigation in earnest, confident that he is on the right side. Unfortunately he underestimates the witty manipulation of his hosts, leading to a shocking and infamous conclusion.

One suspects that on release, a fiercely non Christian cult would have been a source of some horror purely with it’s existence. There is ambiguity to it with modern eyes though, Director Robin Hardy clearly wanted to emphasize the beauty of these remote communities with their charming folk music and alternative traditions.

The islanders have a sense of family and oneness that is rarely seen, as such there is an appealing warmth to it. This warmth is of course weaved with subtle hints of horror. Blatant references to the origins of the may pole in a classroom of children, one of whom has a beetle on a string trapped in her desk as a not too subtle piece of foreshadowing. And as a non-Christian (or perhaps even as a tolerant Christian) it is hard to sympathise with a devout zealot like Howie, and his constant immovable judgement. Obvious parallels between not just old and new religions, but old and new attitudes, to free love, religious freedom and immigration in particular are centred.

It is no coincidence that The Wicker Man was released only 4 years after the news was flooded with stories of The Manson Family. Innocent children turning to murder seeming like the most terrifying version of various influences hoping to manipulate and sway the moral perspective of youth.

Each viewing of this classic British horror presents the viewer with new things to find and realise, as such, it’s impossible to get bored with it.

The Wicker Man is simply put, a marvellous piece of work.

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