Monday, October 12, 2009

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man
****

Sorry I’m late to the party—no paternity leave this year, and it’s been a particularly hectic two weeks so far. Onward, though!

The Wicker Man is a murder mystery about a pagan community on a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. A cop from the mainland shows up to investigate the disappearance of young girl, and he gets drawn into an increasingly bizarre series of fertility rites set around the upcoming May Day celebration. Of course, sissy British policemen don’t carry guns even when solo investigating homicide on strange islands, so the dude is clearly in a shitstorm of trouble from early on. When he finally attempts to leave on his seaplane and a herd of townsfolk pop up from behind the hedges in various animal masks, the gig is up.

So what makes this low budget Celtic musical/sex farce/horror flick such a “classic?” Oh, did I forget to mention the sex and the Celtic music? Yeah, there’s a scene early on when a pubfull of elderly townsfolk break into a bawdy folk song about nailing the landlord’s daughter. The cop flees out of embarrassment and runs smack into a circle of couples having sex in the field next to the pub. Not long later, he’s being serenaded by the fully naked landlord’s daughter—at this point the wife turned to me and said, “About 7 minutes ago this movie took a really weird turn.”


But what’s fun here is that while it flirts with crossing the line of bizarreness into pure farce, the movie ultimately reigns in those impulses and really does evolve into a pretty smart and suspenseful thriller. The virgin Christian everyman is pitted against the oversexed pagan mob, and thus religion becomes the centerpiece of the film. Or more to the point—how far people will go in service of ignorance and superstition.



[Octo edit: SPOILER ALERT after the next picture]

This famous scene at the end where they burn the guy inside the eponymous effigy is made all the more chilling because of the innocent joy spread across the townspeople’s faces.

5 comments:

Octopunk said...

Yay! Welcome to the party. Sorry about sticking that spoiler alert in there but I'm not sure every blogger is an initiate.

Actually, here's the chance to fess up: whether you've seen it or not, anyone here not know how this movie ends?

More to the point, I'm glad you liked the flick and thought it drew its elements together well. Great review.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Landshark, if you were in arm's length I'd give you a big hug and possibly a sloppy kiss. Your presence and insight has been missed this year. And special thanks for kicking things off with my favorite movie ever, ever (ever). I'm pleased (and a little surprised) that you enjoyed it so.

Did I mention I love this movie dearly? To this day I find new things to love about the Wicker Man with every viewing.

Yeah... I'm a little obsessed... I still watch it twice a year.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Also - excellent review.

Landshark said...

After posting my review, I just checked to see who had reviewed this in the past--I figured somebody had to have done so, and thanks to JSP's brainchild, the Monster List, I was quickly reading Marc's mom's thoughts on the movie: ZERO STARS.

Love love love that review.

And JSP, in looking back at Octo's review, I remembered that A) you used to go by the name Summerisle, and B) now I know what that name means.

Incidentally, my introduction to Christopher Lee was him playing Mohammed Jinnah in a biopic about 10 years ago--just before he got the Saruman role and went from cult legend to mainstream star. Jinnah's worth checking out if you get a chance.

Also, after the movie I got down my copy of The Golden Bough (am I the only Horrorthoner who keeps one handy?). It's pretty clear the director pulled a lot of the plot directly from Frazier's research into harvest fire festivals. If you're obsessed with the movie, it might be worth checking Frazier out.

And now fuck it. It's 1:43am and I'm getting up at 7:30 with the kids and then heading over to a friend's to help him lay concrete. My job is to wheelbarrow to and from the truck over and over again. Seriously, wtf am I doing up?

Catfreeek said...

Yay! Landshark!Nice to see you and great review.

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...