[HorrorScience] The Wicker Man (1973)

Today I am going to talk about an atypical film that was very close to not seeing the light of day due to production issues and general disinterest, but that finally did so and has gradually earned a place as a cult film. I'm talking about The Wicker Man, also known as The wicker man.

The film is based on a real pagan cult (of which there are some celebrations that have fallen into disrepair in our current society) and on the novel Ritual by David Pinner.

Our protagonist is Neil Howie, a tremendously religious police officer who receives a letter telling him that a little girl has been missing for almost a year, so he decides to travel to the area (a remote Scottish island) to thoroughly investigate the matter.

After arriving on the island and discovering how rustic the inhabitants are, he begins his investigation without much luck, because it doesn't seem like the little girl exists, not even her supposed mother recognizes her. The deeper he goes into the society that makes up the island and contacts different people, the more horrified our puritan protagonist becomes, because wherever he goes, he sees beliefs that he does not share and sinful behaviors that seem to be common among the population. All These customs come from the area's religion, based on pagan rituals. dedicated to Gods already forgotten.

In the course of his investigation Howie manages to find a clue that can lead him directly to the girl, but in order to move forward he has to deal with the island's boss, Lord Summerisle, who will have a very interesting talk with him that the policeman will despise for its high content of profanities.

After deciding to return home to tell the police that something strange is happening on that island, our protagonist will discover that his seaplane is not working, so he has to stay on the island longer. This situation does not seem to excite anyone, since That same day the islanders had planned to do a very special ritual and Howie's presence could ruin everything.

I have seen The wicker man three times in my life, the first time on television, as a teenager, the second when I was 20 years old and the third a decade later. The time elapsed between each viewing has made me vary my perspective on the film, because when I saw it for the first time I found it very strange and fun, while the next two times I found it tremendously acidic, critical and in a certain way terrifying (while maintaining its strangeness and fun).

The wicker man It is an exaggerated film and may be uncomfortable for many people. (especially in his day) but I also find him very intelligent in the way he presents his proposal. Every time Howie attacks the islanders for their sinful rituals, he shows total fanaticism towards the religion he was taught, making it clear how close both beliefs are to the extreme, something that we unfortunately see every day. In fact, the conversation between Lord Summerisle and Howie is so particular that it makes us see the lord of the island as an intelligent and logical guy and Howie as a deranged fanatic, when it is supposed to be the other way around.

In that sense We must applaud the work of Edward Woodward, the actor who plays Howie, for his performance as a puritan man trapped in a place where his faith is tested at every turn. Their reactions to seeing people fornicating in the middle of the countryside, to seeing that sexuality is taught in school, or the fact that no one on the island believes in Jesus Christ, are excellent. You can almost believe that Edward is an extremely religious guy and he gets really offended, especially because although he starts off calm, he ends up losing his temper over anything.

This character, despite being somewhat exaggerated (although in the real world there are people much worse than him) tries to be sensible and logical, but the fact that these people do not have the same beliefs as him, constantly clouds his judgment and drives him crazy (it doesn't help that they don't stop hindering him with the search for the missing girl). It's quite funny that in one moment, Howie uses logic to justify facts and show the pagans how wrong they are, but a minute later he gives in to his religious fanaticism and attributes all the facts to the will of God.

The rest of the characters are very exaggerated and fun, even Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), who appears to be calm, tolerant and intelligent, ends up showing his fanaticism and madness.

Having said all this, It is worth clarifying that this film is tremendously strange and may disappoint many people, because although it can be classified as a suspense feature film with some horror, it is also a kind of musical, resulting in a tremendously particular combination. I think the best way to see the wicker man It is with an open mind, without expecting any specific type of film and without knowing too much about the plot, if you are hooked, you will enjoy each scene and you will be impressed by the ending.

Curiosities about the film:

• Although the events take place between spring and summer, the film was shot in winter, so the actors were very cold in some scenes and sometimes they had to put ice in their mouths so that fog would not come out when they spoke.
• The producers of this film wanted to get rid of it, and even decided to cut it to sell it with double sessions in mind. Later, when an attempt was made to recover the cut footage to make the complete film, it had been thrown into the trash, preventing all the scenes from being recovered. Fortunately Roger Corman (who was going to publish the film in the United States) had a copy of the complete feature film.
• Due to the lack of interest from the producers and the lack of promotion of the film, Christopher Lee dedicated himself to promoting it by talking about it to film critics, even offering to pay for movie tickets. Apparently Lee was so interested in this film that he practically acted for free so that his salary money could be invested in it.