Review of The Wicker Man (1973) by Tsuwamono Z — 22 Dec 2013

Robin Hardy's 1973 classic horror film, "The Wicker Man" is terrifying alright, but for all the wrong reasons. The film begins by creating an atmosphere of juxtapositioning the whimsical and eerily care-free attitudes of the island's residents, by use of music, with the stern and serious nature of Sergent Howie (Edward Woodward), the cop sent from the main-land to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, by use of flat cinematography (by Harry Waxman) to start. It seems an odd match to begin with, but the cinematography slowly descends into a similar mood as the island residents, gradually using more extreme angles and compositions. While it was a distracting mismatch to begin with, it really does pull together well and effectively pulls the viewer into this world once it gets going.

While the screenplay well- and subtly established the ending, it did so by making use of awkward musical numbers and deranged orgies that seem to come out of nowhere (welcome to the '70s!). This all created an oddly creepy tone for the film, but none of this is what is truly terrifying about the film. Now, I'm not one to deny the importance of any work of art, but I really have to question the moral content at work here. The plot of the film is a police officer looking for a missing girl, and essentially coming to discover the island is inhabited by people of "some strange religion" (Paganism) that he does not understand, whom had more to do with her disappearance than it appears. So, what exactly is this film trying to say? "Don't trust people who believe things and are of a different culture than yourself, because they are evil"? Like I said, I'm not one to deny the importance of any work of art, but I really feel like the message here is one better left unsent, as the only fear it spawns is a real world fear of diversity.