Friday, June 10, 2016

The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man is a 1973 film starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. I was never much of a horror fan and missed them all, including this one, when they were first released. I'm going back and re-watching ones that seem to have made a difference in the genre. This one begins as a mystery story, with the detective searching for a missing child. His overtly Christian faith is taken seriously and viewed sympathetically in the midst of the pagan culture on this island.

trailer:



Moria opens by saying, "The Wicker Man is a unique film that has built a considerable reputation over the years." 1000 Misspent Hours gives it high praise.

Empire Online names it one of the best 100 British films and says,
The Wicker Man isn't scary in a conventional manner and, arguably, is more of a Gothic mystery than a horror movie, but you'd be hard-pushed to find a more disturbing and horrific film experience.
DVD Talk says, "The Wicker Man is a good movie with a truly superior script. As a cult item, it's tops; few other marginal cult films even begin to approach its quality" and calls it "one of the better horror films ever made". Roger Ebert's site goes over the various video releases and praises the film. It has a 90% critics rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

2 comments:

  1. I didn't care for it. Or for the 2006 remake. I'm not that into horror films in the first place, though. Well, I do like the old black and white Dracula, Frankenstein, and Mummy films, though--they are a hoot! ;)

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    1. I haven't seen the 2006 remake. I became interested in horror films several years ago because my older son wanted to share some of his favorites with me. I decided I'd watch the more influential ones and the ones that were on best-of lists. The old b/w horror are an entirely different thing, aren't they! We've always enjoyed them :)

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