Badmovies.org Forum

Managed to see a director's cut of this cult british classic. It runs 102' and some the re-added are in english only, so I had to pay very close attention to them (I'm a foreigner an english is my 3rd language).

For those who haven't heard of it, The Wicker Man is a cult film usually classified as "horror", although it is an oddity in all senses. It stars Edward Woodward, of The Equalizer TV series fame, Bond Girl Britt Ekland and Christopher Lee. It follows the trip of a police officer (Woodward) to an island in order to investigate the case of a missing girl. There he finds out that the locals won't cooperate. Actually, they don't seem even concerned with the girl, nor they believe Woodward when he starts building his case. They are the most peculiar people, only caring about their peculiar habit (Woodward soon learns that the islanders follow druidic religion, much to his distress as a very religious man). Even their ruler, played by Lee, seems more interested in debating religion than in being of any assistance to him.

If the plot seems bizarre, but "genre-worthy", the execution is what makes it an absolutely unique piece of cinema. Pace is relaxed, but never dull. More than focusing on the genre aspects (almost absent), director Robin Hardy and writer Anthony Shaffer use it as an excuse to build both an exploration journey (it is amzing how interesting everything related to the villagers and their habits confronted with Woodward's is, and they take advantage of it) and a sort of almost sociological analysis.

In the same way that Richard Matheson's I m legend made us think of what we find strange or horrifying by inverting our views, here they do the same with religion and cultural habits. Who are the depraved here, the villagers who openly celebrate their sexuality or Woodward's character, who is presented as some kind of puritan? Is he right when he confronts the habits of the islanders or he should try to accept them?

And then we have the songs. Every now and then villagers sing before the surprised copper, often as a way to get him on his nerves or just to end an inconvenient conversation. Songs (70's folk) are used almost as carefully as if this movie was a musical in its own right.

I enjoyed it inmensely, but be warned: this is not an standard genre film, despite whatever some people say. The closest thing I've read about it was some review calling it "offbeat horror". Considering an US remake is on the works, this one should be a must-see on whoever hasn't done it yet. You may like it or not, but watching something so rich and imaginative is nevewr a waste of time.

So far I've only seen the 80-odd minute version, but I loved it. I started describing it as a "slow deliberate intelligent chiller" rather than a horror movie. Everything is building up to the payoff at the end, but you don't want to look away or miss any of it as you try to figure it just what is really going on. I been recommendeing it to anyone I could once I finally saw it, and kicked my self for not seeing it sooner when I had the chance at a scifi convention years ago and once on TV again years ago.

I loved how the religion of the islanders was so alien to us but perfectly normal to them. Most movies would have made them hypocrites or over the top monsters, but it was their "normality" that made them scary, they honestly believed in their faith as much as Wooward's character believed in his. It was a conflict of cultures and religions playing out rather than some gritty physical battle, each side seeing same events and even Sgt. Howie himself in completely different ways - a fool vs. a virtuous believer. And in the end each got what they "wanted" so to speak, the islanders had their offering, and Sgt. Howie might be considered a martyr for his faith. They believed "he" was the solution to their problem, and he believed that what might not happen after he was gone would prove them wrong.

I've read that Christopher Lee has said this is his favorite role and his best work, I can see why. I'm even will to forgive the wig since it add to the alienness of the character.

I just finally saw this movie about a month ago. My neighbors were setting up for a yard sale and I was over there looking through their stuff to see what I could get before it was released to the public. I saw this movie sitting there and grabbed it. I asked about it and she said I could have it. She bought it a few years ago and watched it but didn't understand it and thought it was "really strange". She gave it to me for nothing and I practically ran home and watched it. Yeah, it was weird but I liked it. Wouldn't quite have been the same without being weird.

I saw this many years ago and was quite surprised that it was not  as I expected it to be.  The ending was as satisfying a conclusion as a fallen Catholic could wish.  Woodward turned in a terrifically restrained performance as a traditionalist whose religeous reality is turned upside-down.  And then there's Britt . . . . . . . . .

I still think it is a comedy. I laughed so many times during this film (the uncut version) and was laughing due to the humor within the film.

Yes, there were quite a bit of funny parts in this movie. Some where my wife and I just looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

Hate to dash everyone's good feeling but there is a remake  in the works.

"NICOLAS CAGE has signed on to star in a remake of cult 1973 thriller THE WICKER MAN.

The new film, rewritten and directed by NEIL LaBUTE, will transfer the original story from the Scottish Highlands to a remote island off the coast of Maine.

In the original film, EDWARD WOODWARD played a detective investigating the disappearance of a young girl. His findings bring him into contact with a group of neo-pagans and he starts to believe the missing girl has become a human sacrifice to the wicker god. "

I haven't seen the original, but I know that a lot (or most) American remakes of British movies tend lose a lot in translation.



Post Edited (06-11-05 18:59)

Not sure what version I saw, but I know that I like THE WICKER MAN very much. It's a film definately worth seeking out. The copy I saw about 4 years ago was a VHS Hollywood video copy.

The very brilliant coverage of the Morris Dancing/Celtic lengendary format of ancestor worship . . .
Chris Lee as Lord Summerville . . .
Again, a very brilliant Hammer film.
This film illuminates the very fragmentary vestiges of the Old Faith as recalled in the Inner Hebrides Islands off the Scottish coast.  Note the tropical palm trees on an island very close to the Arctic Circle.  This is true.  I've been there.
Do you live in a town that has Morris Dancers?  Do they do the Full Morris(Sort of like the Full Monty!!)?  Do they have the Hobby Horse and The Bearded Lady and The Fool?  All mythic characters/Fairie/Demonic in origin.  This film, for all its unintentional humour, does touch upon it all, and for that it is a Classic, not because of the culty laughs.  
Yes, I shake my head at the silly bits too, & chuckle, but in whole, these people really took time to try to make a film of genuine Campbellian mythos, & for the most part succeeded.  
Simply put, if it were just another "Plan 9", it would not enjoy the stature it has in Britain.  The anniversary edition of the DVD sold out through several printings. No, something else is being illuminated here, for all its bits that fail.
peter johnson/denny crane

trek_geezer wrote:

> I haven't seen the original, but I know that a lot (or most)
> American remakes of British movies tend lose a lot in
> translation

In no case could this be truer, Her Geezer!  I'm not even half the fan of "Wicker Man" that the rest of the contingent  here seem to be(but I give this movie it's proper due). Some movies just shouldn't be redone.  "Wicker Man" is one.  So's next week's "Willy Wonka", but that's neither here nor there(nor is it British for that matter)....

Scott, it is very easy to know if you saw the theatrical release or the 102' cut. Here are some key differences:

- In the 102' there are a couple of prologue scenes showing the island before Woodward's character arrives, plus an scenes in the police precint where two cops make fun of Woodward.

- In the 82' cut, Brit Ekland's dancing takes place (I think) the first night Woodward spends in the inn. In the 102', this happens several days later.

- In the 102' cut, Woodwards questions the village doctor about the girl being dead, and he tells him to look for the death register.

Thanks Neville, If I get time I'll try to get the latest DVD edition of THE WICKER MAN. Wouldn't mind seeing it again anyway.

Um -- okie dokie, if someone (who?) wants to editorialize on my post, then why not do it in an actual, you know, like, POST, or something . . .
To just sort of put an add-on at the bottom:  "I have no idea what this means", is sort of lame, doood --
I would be more than happy to explain what I mean, if you bother to ask:
What parts don't you get?
We have Morris Dancing in Boulder county.  There are several groups, or "Horses", as the clubs/groups are called.  The grand climactic scene of "Wicker Man" concerns a grand Morris Dance procession.  Most Morris societies leave out the various characters depicted in the final Morris procession at the end of "Wicker Man" -- it is just one of many points in the film that bother to take the time to illuminate old Folk Practices that are still acknowledged in the British Isles.  You almost never see the "Full Morris" enacted, given its pagan and uncomfortable "witchcraft" overtones.  Simply put, the Morris Dance describes the multiple deities of rural British pagan society, of which there are only vesigal remains.  You may see depictions of The Green Man and/or Sheila A'Nig carved in stone in the pillars of various 10th and 12th-century churches, but their meaning is all but gone.  Morris is a pale shadow of the meaning and behaviour of these deities.
"Wicker Man" works because it posits:  What if these deities were NOT simply caracatures enacted in a pagent, but still forces that held sway over cultures?  What if the old gods were still alive?
It is part of the real power of the film that you don't see monsters, just the actions of men, working with what they believe to be the True Faith.
Joseph Campbell wrote a great deal about the meaning of myths in culture and society.  Chrstopher Lee, as Lord Summerisle, makes it clear that the local myths -- a collection of myths and folk-tales that are inseperable from a given social group constitue a "mythos" -- are more than just that, but are essential to the very life of the Island society -- in a quite literal sense.  Woodard's threat at the very end that Lord Summerisle may find himself taking his place inside the Wicker Man was not an empty one, but one entirely consistent with the type of Folk-belief being depicted/enacted in the movie.
I've re-read my original post, and this one too -- If the meaning is still vague or indecipherable, then please by all means ask questions.
Oh, the aside about there being palm trees growing in the British Isles is just an obeservation that Hammer took its time to get a genuine location in the Scottish Hebrides Islands, rather than just shoot on a backlot at Shepperton.
peter johnson/denny crane

Christopher Lee was asked to star in the remake and he said no can do.

"To just sort of put an add-on at the bottom: "I have no idea what this means", is sort of lame, doood --"

Peter, first I doubt that anyone can editorialize someone else's posts and second, I believe that "I have no idea what this means" is your signature as it applies to every other post you have made up to this point.
Were you being serious or just messing around and I'm too slow to catch it?

No, it actually looks as if someone is having a bit of fun with me --
I never -- consciously; perhaps I was very drunk -- EVER added this "I have no idea what this means" tag to my posts.
I mean it.
I mean, I can't FIND it appearing anywhere in anything I've knowingly typed, yet there it is . . .
Now that you point out that it follows me, I suddenly find it the funniest thing on Earth!
No, really, I'm not lying, odin, I never ever put that tag on my stuff!!
Yet there it is --
Like very cosmic and Karmic and all that --
A bit of cosmic self-mockery . . .
Strange stuff man . . .
Let's see if it pops up on this one!!
peter johnson/denny crane

IT DID!!
I SWEAR I'M NOT DOING IT!!
??-WTF??
peter johson/denny crane

Well Peter...
I have no idea what this means either :-)

Huh?

This is the first time you have noticed that tagline Peter/Denny?

It has been on your posts for at least several weeks.

It means I've not been paying any attention at all to the bottoms of my posts.  If the tagline appeared weeks ago, then fine, but I still insist I had nothing at all to do with putting it on there.
Thank God Andrew allows the delirious and the inobservant to post here, otherwise I'd be a lonely guy . . .
Now, of course, I'm quite fond of it.  Sort of sums up my whole approach to life . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

It has inspired my new tagline. (:

Too funny.