The Wickerman 1973
Rating: 
Our selection for this week is the 70’s classic the Wickerman. This has been one of my favorites for a long time, and was truly a cult-film up until that god-awful remake renewed interest in it. This is one of those movies that cannot be remade. It just doesn’t work. To watch it today, yes it is quite dated, but yet contemporizing it is sacrilege!
The storyline twists and turns a lot, so I won’t speak much of it, to avoid spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it. It centers around a very pious, uptight police officer who is anonymously summoned to the beautiful yet mysterious Summerisle of the coast of Scotland to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. He arrives to find the island to be entirely populated by adherents of the old religion. Of course he is shocked at the sacrilege of their open Pagan ways, and ends up fighting an uphill battle in his attempts to locate the missing girl. He is granted an audience with Lord Summerisle, (played by Christopher Lee) who tells him why things are the way they are and why the people believe in the ways that they do. He also has the (mis?)fortune of having to share a room adjoining that of the lovely inn-keepers daughter (played by Ingrid Pitt), who is the townsfolk’s very own Aphrodite in the flesh. He fights his way through the whole ordeal attempting to keep his mind on his duty, but in the end finds out exactly what his true purpose is.
This film receives accolades from me for multiple reasons. For starters, it is wonderfully acted. Rare for a B-Movie, but even more so for a 70’s B-movie. The entire film was shot on location and the visuals are just stunning. The film also doesn’t suffer from a weak plot, or weak research. Most films that center around Pagan topics are pure farce. They don’t even take them time to learn a single thing and just add to stereotypes. While the Paganism displayed in this film is not 100%, it is based on fact and ancient tradition instead of furthering ignorance on subjects the writer knows nothing about. Someone did their homework on this one.
If you haven’t seen it, you need to, and don’t accidentally get the remake, you will regret it.
Mr Chaos
Ok so last night we went with something more slow paced and less gory. The Wickerman is defiantly not a scary movie, but it is creepy and keeps you wondering what the hell these hippies are doing until the end. The ending I must say is pretty awesome. I did get a little bored through some of it but over all it was a good flick to watch . If you are looking for fast paced horror this is not the movie for you. But if you want a thriller and would like to see some boobs… lots of boobs and naked dancing this is the flick for you. Oh and be prepared for a lot of folk singing but did I mention all the boobs? So good thriller change of pace for the blood thirty horror addict.
FYI I hear the remake is really really bad, I have never seen it but Mr. Chaos says don’t bother.
Mrs Chaos
Tags: the wickerman
