Possibly the greatest horror film ever made
As I was flicking through the TV channels I happened upon the opening credits for The Wicker Man. This is simply an incredible movie, I've seen it often enough that I could recite the script along with the players and, for that reason, my notes about it will be pretty brief.
I'll never forget the first time I saw this, it was long overdue and my very dear friend and Best Man Matt brought it around with him for me to see. I was struck then, as I've been struck ever since, by the creepy way that no-one on the island seems totally secure in their own skin. Whether or not this is a happy accident like some of the lighting freaks in Easy Rider really isn't of great significance to me. It could just be that the actors are standing and listening intently for off-screen instructions or that they have been creatively and intelligently coached by the Robin Hardy (and isn't it strange that he didn't make his only other film thirteen years after this?). The effect is simply unnerving, for the protagonist Sergeant Howie and for the viewer.
Woodward, who to me will always be The Equalizer, is marvellous here as the investigating policeman. His grim determination to do his duty in the face of things he finds by turns repellent, compelling and baffling. And, if you think about it, had he answered 'the Siren's call' (as surely every male viewer would have expected him to) then the ending of the film would be redundant.
As an advert for celibacy, then, the film is a flop. As a terrifying psychological horror, though, it is pretty much unsurpassable. 10/10
