Such an electrifying movie in the last act, made so by the baffling, unsettling buildup throughout the film.

This staunch, upright policeman represents us, the viewer, as he first strides, then falters, through this strange island culture where everything seems sexualised and wanton and weird. He is as confused as us, the viewers. The villagers veer between odd and friendly, and almost everything said and done seems distinctly off-kilter.

We see this staunch Christian feel himself diminished and isolated as he realises he is in an environment like he’s never encountered, where the friendly words, and seemingly joyful music has an underpinning of debauchery, cruelty and barbarity he finds hard to cope with – from the beetle deliberately tied to the pin to go round and round until it’s tied up, to the little girl made to put a frog in her mouth to get rid of a sore throat, to the odd tricks the children play on the policeman.

The film itself is indeed a horror movie, but defies genre. It’s a dark, dark comedy of sorts – reminiscent of the old TV series The Prisoner in its disconcerting changing of familiar buildings and clothes into something alien – a musical (the music infuses the film almost wholly, with the only odd music being an out-of-place funky electric guitar score very near the end when Woodward is trying to escape pursuit), and a detective story.

The vacant smiles and constant digressions the villagers and Lord make when talking to the policeman just keep building and building the tension, until the nature of the old religion makes itself clear.

Finally, you feel that both Christian and heathen are equally wrong and equally impotent as the villagers sing and dance on the windy grassland. This sacrifice feels both dreadful (Woodward is amazing in the last act) and pointless, as the villagers cavort in the windy sunset, you feel the gesture they are making to nature is pointless, and nature will do what it will do, and the actions of men won’t change a thing.

A great film, horror or not.

The Wicker Man (1973)

In the Cinemas in 1973 but made a few years earlier, The Wicker Man is an exceptional and very classy horror movie, dealing with a seemingly gentle though unusual society, seen through the eyes of a stout Christian.

A policeman is sent to a remote Scottish island called Summer Isle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. He’s a dedicated old-school Christian, and is first disconcerted by the strangeness of the community, then shaken by its open sexuality and possibly passive-aggressive stance to his questions, and then finally disgusted by its adherence to Pagan rituals. Finally his investigations lead him to the truth behind the girl’s disappearance, and the more startling secret behind that…

This film is wonderful. Edward Woodward (probably known to many of you as the star of ‘The Equalizer’) is excellent casting for the dour and grim hero of this piece, as is Christopher Lee as ‘Lord Summerisle’, leader of this community. This film is also whimsical (in the folky music) and erotic (with Britt Ekland playing the pub landlord’s daughter Willow, who tries to entice the policeman by singing a slightly bawldy song while dancing). Woodward convinces you he is deeply tempted, but also a man of conviction that can hold out to such temptation.

This is a slow-burn movie, but does convey a sense of off-kilter from the very beginning, as the policeman arrives. We are aware he is an outsider given his uniform and his obvious fish-out-of-water demeanour, and we empathise with his dislocation, I think. The growing dread of the policeman as he nears the truth of the disappearance is obvious and palpable. The film builds confidently as it goes, and the different elements (music, sex, ritual, mysticism) are conveyed brilliantly through the dialogue and direction. This wouldn’t have worked with a less talented director and screenwriter, but here it is just wonderful. The sense of creeping, dawning dread has you on the edge of your seat at times, just waiting to see the next discovery in the investigation.

The film is also remarkable as it is one of the most cliche-free movies you’ll see. It doesn’t rely on the usual horror movie conventions to frame and create its tension…it’s more like a detective movie with a touch of the eerie and erotic much of the time, but it is definitely tense and ultimately horrific.

I’ve been very careful not to give away too much here, as the whole film should be a pleasure taken first-hand, and if you’ve not seen it and don’t know about the story from start to end, I envy you and urge you to see it.
Rating: ODD, 10/10
Suitable for adults only.