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THE WICKER MAN - 1973
British Lion Films
Rated: USA: R
Click on the DVD cover on the left to read Rbadac's review of The Wicker Man |
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"Corn Rigs are bonny."
THE WICKER MAN is said to be something of an enigma, and rightly
so. It was made at a time when Shepperton Studios, having lost money for
years, was under the axe and about to be bought and (at that time) possibly divvied up among the buzzards. It was made
by a group of individuals who wanted to try something new with Horror,
with Christopher Lee being chief among the creators. He felt that the
Horror movie stalwart of that time (1970),
Hammer films (his most eminent employer),
had become heavy handed and tiresome.
He was right.
This was during the rise of low budget U.S. Directors (Tobe Hooper, George Romero) and Italian Horror movie Directors (Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Dario Argento). Their movies were pounding the hell out of Hammer studios.
Hammer had lost its edge and its creative bent, choosing to trot out the same old
chestnuts that had once been popular and, failing to get the desired result,
adding nudity for the sake of controversy. Well I for one, really appreciate
nudity in movies - but - if it's only on the screen to elicit some blue-nosed
boob into protesting outside the theater, then the movie is usually a worthless piece of crap.
Yes, THE WICKER MAN has nudity: wonderfully so. No, it's not for some blue nosed boob. On the contrary, THE
WICKER MAN is probably one of the smartest, deepest Horror movies I've ever seen: PSYCHO, THE EXORCIST, and THE SIXTH SENSE being among those included in that group. And to add one more thing about
the nudity, unlike many American Horror movies, its not presented as a
way of targeting the naked person for death nor, like Italian Horror movies,
is the subject being subjugated. Instead, the nudity is presented as life
affirming, wholesome, even spiritual yet not preachy. Having first seen
THE WICKER MAN way back in the 1980s, I kept that image with me, of the young and beautiful
Britt Ecklund dancing naked in her room, beating her fists against the
walls, entreating the celibate Sergeant Howard to share her bed. Since
then, Horror movies or stories that can only dwell on repressed or revenge
based displays of sexuality, make me shake my head at the writer or director's
lack of talent - or repressed sexuality.
In THE WICKER MAN, Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward),
a policeman from Scotland, flies in his official seaplane out to one of
the Northwest isles. He is there because an anonymous resident of the
island fears that one of the children, a Rowan Morris, has been kidnapped.
Upon arriving at the tiny island, famed for its yearly crop of delicious
apples, he finds the villagers unhelpful. The isle is small and everyone
knows everyone else. Yet no one has ever seen the young victim. Finding
the purported Mother of Rowan, he becomes even more perplexed. Mrs. Morris
has but one daughter and it's not Rowan. The only Morris on the Isle knows
nothing of the missing child. Having flown so far and so long, Howie isn't
about to give up so easily, not until he at least has had a word with
the noble of the island, Lord Sumerisle (Christopher Lee: HORROR HOTEL, SLEEPY HOLLOW, LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy).
Seargent Howie finds himself distressed by the islanders almost from the beginning.
A seriously devout Christian man, Sergeant Howie, though in his 40s, is
proud of his virginity and the fact that he is saving himself for marriage
to his fiance. Yet the Islanders are Pagan; and their beliefs and traditions,
especially concerning sex, are viewed with both offense and fear by the
Sergeant.
A side note
here: There are two versions of THE WICKER MAN, the final edited version and the chopped to hell
version. The latter being the one the new owners of Shepperton studios,
who knew nothing of film making it appears, raped and mutilated. The one
that survives today is thanks to Roger Corman. He nearly became the American
distributor for the picture; had it in his possession, and was able to
use his own print in re-release in 1979. More on that later, but getting
back to Shepperton Studios in 1973.
Michael Deely replaced Peter Snells as head at British Lion Films, (B.L. was beholden to Shepperton's investment money) and thought that THE WICKER MAN was one of the worst movies he had ever seen (I bet it was the music that killed it for him). After a screening of the movie for the cast and crew, he snidely treated Christopher Lee, Lee's wife, and the writer and director in a manner most shabby. Well, film
history has shown Deely to be the kind of man whose taste is all in his
mouth. Not only has THE WICKER MAN come to be regarded as one of the top Horror movies
of all time, but as one of the 100 best movies of all time.
Rightly so. You won't find the heavy handed Horror that Hammer films de-evolved into
in the mid to late 1960s. And you won't find the ham fisted style of Horror
that floated on the surface of Horror movies in the U.S. from the late
1970s right up to today (with a few exceptions). THE WICKER MAN starts out as a detective story, becomes a mystery, mutates into a musical
of all things, and finally slides down into the screaming depths of Horror.
Those who know their Celtic history are already halfway home concerning
the plot of THE WICKER MAN, but even so, its the kind of slow creeping Horror
movie that gets under your skin and won't let go. Even the music, which
put me off at first viewing, has pleasently burrowed into my memory. The
pagan religion of the Isle is steeped in traditions and music plays a
major role in it. Unlike most musicals, when folks break into song in
this film, it makes perfect sense, even if the songs themselves don't
suit your musical taste. They sure as hell don't suit mine. Even today I'd be much happier without most of the music, especially that Corn Rigs freaking song.
THE WICKER MAN is loaded with subtley, nuance, and enough twists
and chases to satisfy repeated viewings. There is always more to learn
within the story, it seems, and watching a young Britt Eklund dancing
butt-naked in her rutting passion is a nice way to pass the time.
Due to a horrible miscalculation on the part of a worker at the studio and the
absolute bone headed stupidity of Michael Deely, the only negatives in
existence, all 200 reels of them, were thrown out to be used as filler
for the M3 roadway that was built in Great Britain shortly after the release
of the THE WICKER MAN. Zoom forward to 1979 and a group of film distributors/investors
want to re-release the film, but there are no decent copies left.
Ah but there is one. One perfect copy made before the morons at Shepperton Studios
got their greasy fingers on it. The lone print that was sent to American
Indie producer, director, and film distributor, Roger Corman. It's because
of Roger that THE WICKER MAN exists today. Thanks dude!
THE WICKER MAN therefore, is one of the precious few "Director Cuts" that is
actually better than the original.
You get both versions on two separate discs in the special limited edition.
I feel that current distributor, Anchor Bay Entertainment (who
I can't praise highly enough), should offer both versions in their
regular packages too. Perhaps a double sided disc.
With great added features including theatrical trailers, a TV spot, radio spots,
talent bios, and the excxellent short documentary, THE WICKER MAN ENIGMA,
this new DVD release is a treasure worth 5 Shriek Girls.
This review
copyright 2002 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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