Customer Reviews

The Wicker Man

5 star:		(172)
4 star:		(78)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

THE WICKER MAN

(UK - 1973)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Mono

First-time director Robin Hardy and acclaimed writer Anthony Shaffer (twin brother of Peter, and author of FRENZY and SLEUTH [both 1972], the latter based on his stageplay) attempted to revise the horror genre with this cult favorite concerning a deeply religious police sergeant (Edward Woodward, in a note-perfect performance) whose search for an apparently missing schoolgirl on a remote Scottish island exposes a Pagan society rooted in old superstitions and the worship of vengeful gods. To the accompaniment of a haunting score by Paul Giovanni, comprising variations on traditional songs and folk music, THE WICKER MAN depicts an isolated community at odds with the world at large, steeped in ancient beliefs and ruled with deceptive benevolence by a patriarchal figure (Christopher Lee, in unusually subtle form) whom the script suggests is a monstrous con man, maintaining the island's customs not through genuine convictions, but because the islanders - all of them true disciples of the cause - simply know no other way.

The central mystery (Woodward's search for the missing girl) is genuinely engrossing, and the bawdy songs which greet the sergeant's arrival are soon replaced by an earthy sensuality as the true extent of the islanders' belief in regenerative powers - divorced from traditional notions of 'morality' - become apparent. Lee's assessment of God verges on blasphemy ("He had His chance and... blew it!"), but ultimately, neither Christianity or Paganism emerges with any dignity from the devastating finale. There's real magic in every frame of this extraordinary film, though it's clearly not for everyone: If you don't 'get it' within the first ten minutes, then the careful pace and deliberate absence of familiar horror motifs may seem a little long-winded, even dull. Everyone else, however, will be enchanted by this unique, one-of-a-kind movie.

The filmmakers themselves have roundly condemned the shorter 'theatrical version' (88 minutes) which crept into UK theaters in 1973 as support for Nicolas Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW. However, most viewers were first introduced to TWM via the shorter print, simply because it was the only available version for many years, and despite the makers' protestations to the contrary, it's still a remarkable experience.

The filmmakers' preferred print (100m) underlines the script's major themes and streamlines the narrative, and will be a revelation to anyone who's only ever seen the theatrical print or the 95m version unearthed by the BBC. There are a few bits and pieces in the theatrical version which are exclusive to that print, and the BBC edition includes an animated 'Sun God' which appears after the closing credits, filling the screen before shooting backwards into darkness. The loss of this brief, iconic fragment from most extant versions is inexplicable.

This is a POWERHOUSE of a movie that will blow your mind!!!

It is listed as a horror film, when actually it is SO MUCH MORE. If one classify the genre, I would say Mystery.

It begins with an anonymous letter to the Scottish Constable ( Edward Woodward of Equilizer fame) telling of Summer Isle. A local girl is missing and none of the villagers seems to show any interest. Flying to the small Isle, Woodward arrives just before Beltane, the pagan May Day Festivals and the find the Island completely immersed in the Pagan ways of Auld. Head of the Isle is Lord Summerisle (British horror legend Christopher Lee - Dracula for Hammer Films - in his favourite performance), the leader of his pagan island, and it is clear he not only is aware of the villagers beliefs, he encourages them!

Slowly, Woodward comes to believe the girl is being held for Sacrifice on May Day as he races to save her.

Brilliant performance from Britt Eckland (former Mrs. Peter Sellers and one of the great beauties of her time - * though most of the nude shots are not her since she was pregnant at the time) Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt and Diane Cilento (the first Mrs. Sean Connery, mother of Jason) contribute to the eerie feel.

The movie portrays pagan beliefs in an unHollywood style, that goes for substance and facts, rather than sensationalism. The scenery is beautiful and the music written for the film is haunting.

The film faced many production problems, to being passed through several production companies, a lot of lost footage from the film editor - a devoutly religious man who thought is sinful to be filming this and was systematically destroying as much as he could, and indifferent reediting by Roger Corman, and then nearly dying in bad handly in the theatres. Was not seen for nearly two decades, and the version in existence was Corman's poorly edited one, missing over 20 minutes of the 101 minute original verson.

I spent years and year trying to track down a copy, and finally for a short time news was good. The director found that he had an original copy still in his position. This was released the VHS - first time the 101 version had been seen in nearly two decades!! Shortly after, it was pulled from the shelves. Corman's version ( a nice companion piece so it was made of a lot of out takes) came out for a spell.

So I am delighted to see this one on DVD and protected for all time.

Warning: some flashes of Eckland and her stand-in nude, and people of a very religious nature will not like the content. Otherwise, this is one fabulous knock out of a film.

Let me begin by saying The Wicker Man is one of my favorite movies...
A friend gave me this DVD and I was excited to see "The Wicker Man Enigma," the 32 minute "making of the movie" included here. HOWEVER I was blown away that the 88 minute "American release" version was featured on the rest of the DVD! Particularly after "The Wicker Man Enigma" went on about how the footage removed took so much away from the final film. I simply can't believe that no attempt was made by the producers of this DVD to use the longer version.
I have the 101 minute version on video and it is vastly superior. The movie makes much less sense in the 88 min copy. Chopped out bits include more background on Sergeant Howie (his fiancee, feelings about sex and deep religious convictions), how he received the letter about Rowan, not to mention other vital parts such as a scene with Lord Summerisle presenting a young man as a sexual offering to Willow and others. Also unfortunately abbreviated are many of the songs such as Willow's dance, Lord Summerisle and Miss Rose's song, etc. Some scenes are switched around to "make more sense" here, presumably after the film was butchered.
To anyone who has only seen the 88 minute version, I HIGHLY recommend trying to get a copy of the long version, it is like a completely different film. This is worthwhile only for "The Wicker Man Enigma."

This is a handsome DVD edition. The two disc set comes in a rather distinctive wooden box instead of the usual plastic case. The discs insides are in a jewel case on a clear plastic frame, and there are two 5x7 cards, each with a chapter index for the two different versions of the movie. Not two different formats, widescreen and full-frame, which I've seen offered on other DVDs, but two different versions of the movie itself! On one disc is the infamous theatrical release short version with a stated runtime of 88 minutes (this version had a runtime of 87 minutes, according to most sources) and the other disc has the extended version with a stated runtime of 99 minutes. This longer version has the mainland prelude scenes and the Christopher Lee monologue in his offering to Aphrodite, which accounts for the "rarely seem" 11 minutes. A lot of confusion about the length of the uncut longer version seems to exist! I've seen runtimes given as "105 minutes", "104", "103" and "101"! Actually, according to the film editor himself, Eric Boyd-Perkins, it was cut down to a finished release version of 102 minutes. But this version was never released. And this is the version that was further cut down (on the advice of Roger Corman, no less!) to the 87/88 minute theatrical release version. It was also re-cut later for the BBC to a 95 minute version. Just out of curiosity, I timed the long version on this DVD and it is 99 minutes. I also timed the one I recorded 15 years ago off the old Z Channel and it, too, is 99 minutes. I can't time my Media VHS version because I don't have it anymore. It had a stated runtime of 102 minutes, but since I never noticed any difference between it and the Z Channel copy, it may have been 99 minutes, too! Maybe there never was an actual 102 minute version released anywhere! Not that it matters. The filmmakers themselves had to cut out about 20 minutes of filmed scenes to get down to that 102 minute release version! These missing scenes will never be seen again by anybody! They are lost and gone forever, probably buried under a highway in Britain! So why quibble over a missing 3 minutes? Get over it! There's a wealth of information about The Wicker Man on the Internet. Just do a Yahoo! search and you'll find dozes of interesting sites, including one with transcripts of those missing 20 minutes! By reading them, you'll better understand some of the events in the movie more clearly. Like why some characters/actors are listed in the end credits but are not in the movie -- because their scenes were cut! And like why graves on Summerisle are 9 feet deep! And what the Hand of Glory is! Check it out! But back to this DVD set. In defense of the much-maligned short version, it has one thing going for it -- it has a scene that is not in any of the longer versions that I've seen! It takes place the morning after Willow's erotic dance and gives further insight into Howie's character, as he states that he doesn't believe in sex before marriage, and Willow gently mocks him for it. This is an important scene and should have been in the extended version as well! (This scene is about 2 minutes long. Could it have been in the 1973 102 minute version, and subsequently cut, accounting for the confusion about the "uncut" length?) There are some other differences as well, such as credits backgrounds and some scene juxtaposition, but they're minor. This short version is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and it sounds great! The image quality is very good. The extended version is in mono and the image quality varies from fair to good, but this is explained in a brief forward to the movie -- in effect, they did the best they could with what they had! Bonus material includes the theatrical trailer and TV spots, and a lot of radio spots. But there's no language selection and no subtitles option. Chapter selections for each version, of course. And cast & crew bios -- but only for Lee, Woodward, Hardy, and Shaffer. The most interesting feature is the short documentary that has the ubiquitous Lee, the still-lovely Pitt, star Woodward, director Hardy, and many others talking about the film. The documentary ends with a poignant shot of that highway, under which the lost footage may be buried! Well, let's be thankful that we have as much as we have of this true cult classic! So is this DVD set worth the money? I say yes. I'm happy with it. I think you will be, too.

To start with, this is a great DVD, Anchor Bay are the best, and this is most likely the best DVD you're going to see of "The Wicker Man" (unless someone finds the lost, 'full-length' Roger Corman print). So buy it if you like the movie. To address the 'full length' vs 'truncated' debate we need first to recall the facts. There are 3 versions: 87 min/original theatrical version (UK and USA); 92-95 min version (Robin Hardy's subsequent US theatrical version, later also acquired by the BBC) that was reconstructed from the 103 minute print sent to Roger Corman; 103 minute version (original directors cut/length of Roger Corman print). I can't explain the difference between the 103 minute vesrion and what Anchor Bay have listed as 99 minutes - some have said that this is *precisely the same film* - my comments are altogether different. (1) The film that got great reviews and established the reputation of the picture was the 87 minute version (this is the only version that was seen in the UK until a BBC broadcast in the late 80's). (2) Robin Hardy did not include the early Howie sequences in his 'reconstructed' version (92-95 min) in the late 70's - *why?*, if they are so "essential" to the film? (3) Edward Woodward's performance is so great, I don't think the film *needs* the early Howie sequences (which are poorly acted and written) - we can see what he is about in every frame, PLUS, I actually find it more interesting to learn about Howie as we go than to see it all in exposition "up front" (4) Finally, as a film writer, director and editor myself, I refute those that say that the film is so altered across versions - a film as original and powerful as "The Wicker Man" can not be fundamentally changed by a variance of less than 10% of the footage at the pointd the variance occurs! The message is: get a life here - it's a great film in any version! The final quibbling about this DVD (not explained in the documentary) is the quality of the footage in the extended version. Well the fact of the matter is that the only known surviving element of the long version was the print sent to Roger Corman. This was used for the Magnum video release and is the Beta SP tape copy used by Anchor Bay. Where is the print itself? Nobody knows. It, too, is lost. So since the negative is destroyed, nobody knows where Robin Hardy's 92-95 minute theatrical prints are and the Roger Corman print is lost, all we have is a Beta SP videotape with this footage. Again, Anchor Bay have done a painstaking job of pumping this up to give the best possible image and integrating it with the better quality footage (from the theatrical release negative) so give them credit for doing the best that they could. I am personally glad to be able to see "The Wicker Man" again in such a great presentation and to make a choice between the "original theatrical" and "long" versions as I see fit.

In its initial release, THE WICKER MAN was cut by 11 minutes, and scenes were shifted out of order. The result is a near incomprehensible mess. That appears to be what this disc contains.

Instead, seek out the 1979 restoration (around 95 minutes) or the Canal Plus/Anchor Bay release of a reconstructed 99 minute director's cut version. After seeing the film, read the Wikipedia article ... THE WICKER MAN is one of the great overlooked horror/suspense films of the 20th century.

"The Wicker Man" is one of those films that I had heard great things about for several years before it finally came to an art theater in town and I was able to see it. My initial response was one of disappointment, not because I found the film to have major flaws or anything, but simply because my expectations had been raised to the level of something like "Citizen Kane," "The Seven Samurai," or at least "Psycho." In retrospect, the problem is more that the film is characterized as a horror film (Christopher Lee has a major role) and "The Wicker Man" does and does not fall into that category. Certainly very few horror films take place so much during the daylight hours.

When Sgt. Howie (Edward Woodward) of the West Highland Police comes to the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle to search for a missing schoolgirl, Rowan Morrison, he finds that something a bit more disturbing that the secrets kept by the locals. Howie, a professed Christian, is repulsed by the open devotion of the people to the Old Gods, complete with pagan rituals and open sexuality. Even worse, these abhorrent practices are endorsed and encouraged by the local Lord. They also refuse to help with his investigation, more out of a sense of detachment rather than as a concerted effort to keep Howie from discovering the truth. He wanders the town and the surrounding countryside, and it from this footage of the Scottish highlands that you get the sense there are things older than civilization and Howie is an interloper.

Howie's suspicion is that young Rowan was sacrificed by some sort of cult headed by Lord Summerisle (Lee), but he is half-right in that horrible way that becomes suddenly and tragically clear at the film's climax. The grand irony of the film is that Howie is being judged and found wanting, just as he is doing the same of others. Besides the climax, the most memorable scene in the film is when the local sex siren, Willow (Britt Ekland) keeps the sergeant awake by dancing naked outside his door (I have to point out that a body double was used for some of this scene and that Ekland's voice was dubbed in the film). Howie obviously suffers from a repressive idea of Christianity where his carnal desires torment him even more than the horrible crime he suspects has been perpetrated. Another delicious irony of Anthony Schaeffer's script is that the character of Howie, who obviously cannot handle the sexual freedom of the Sixties, is confronted by its implications in a remote village that harkens back to the old days.

"The Wicker Man" is a rare horror film since the key person in its success is writer Anthony Shaffer ("Frenzy," "Sleuth"), whose script takes ancient Druid practices, pagan rites, and the origins of the celebration of May Day to give the story a sense of authenticity bound more in fact than fiction (cf. Dracula/vampire movies). The script also takes advantage of our expectations that Howie is the film's "hero," so that we become victims of the storyteller as much as the main character. In fact, this film works so well because it violates certain key expectations we have about horror films while seeming to embrace them.

I know it will be seen as heresy, but I think "The Wicker Man" would have benefit from casting someone else other than Christopher Lee. While the actor's presence is obviously strong, just looking at him makes you think that "The Wicker Man" is going to turn into a Hammer monster movie at any moment. I mean, because it is Lee, we are not surprised that his character is even weirder than the townspeople, the same way that we are not surprised Eklund is running naked at some point in the film. In a film which works best when it works against our expectations in terms of the story, should follow the same logic with the casting as well.

FINAL WARNING: If you have never seen "The Wicker Man," avoid watching trailers or anything else before you screen it for the first time. When you go back and watch these things after the film you will know why.

So says Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man, a true cinematic rarity, an original, and intelligent, horror film, just as Kubricks 2001 is the quintessential intelligent Sci Fi film. Boasting a superbly constructed story, an exemplary caste tailor made for their roles, and a truly shocking and disturbing ending, The Wicker Man is a masterful exercise in escalating dread, with a harrowing climax that will leave you drained.

I once heard this film referred to as the Citizen Kane of horror films, but if I were to compare it to one of Orsons greats, I would say it bares a closer resemblance to the Magnificent Ambersons. The reason for this is plain when youve searched for the film in the database; you find two listings, The Wicker Man, and The Wicker Man (Limited Edition). The former is the original cinematic release of the film, butchered and incomplete, the latter is a restored version that gives us 11 minutes of unseen footage, most of it important back story fleshing out the central character of Sergeant Neil Howie, wonderfully played by Edward Woodward. I said a restored version, because whats presented to us is still not the complete film, but for more on that you have to watch the excellent documentary included in the extras.

Without giving too much away for those who havent seen it, the basic story is as follows. Sergeant Howie - monstrously uptight and VERY Christian - a policeman on the Scottish mainland, receives an anonymous letter from Summerisle, off the Western Coast, telling him about the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, and hinting at dire events to come. Howie flies off to the isle alone to investigate, and collides headfirst with the pre-Christian, or Pagan, belief system practiced there.

Everywhere is godless symbolism; pagan fetishes, rampant lasciviousness, a mother putting a frog into a childs mouth to cure a sore throat, the villagers, and even the Rowans own family, denying all knowledge of the girl. As if that wasnt enough, the good Sergeant Howie discovers something that for him, is absolutely the final straw a ruined and desecrated church.

With his search for the girl being stonewalled at every turn, and the realization that, from his point of view, the islanders are an utterly godless bunch, our hero turns, in high dudgeon, and extreme exasperation at the islanders beliefs and practices, to the head of the community, Lord Summerisle, played with relish and splendid urbanity by non other than Christopher Lee!

His assumption that a Lord of the Land will behave in a civilized and Christian manner is rudely dashed when he sees young girls dancing naked round a fire in the Manor grounds. Incredulous at this wanton display, he takes his Lordship to task, to which his Lordship calmly replies, Well naturally! It's much too dangerous to jump through fire with their clothes on! Poor Sergeant Howie really is out of his depth, his Lordship not only condones the godless rituals of the islanders, hes their spiritual leader, We are a deeply religious people, he gently admonishes the blustering police officer.

With the knowledge that he is utterly alone, Sergeant Howie determines to discover the truth about Rowan Morrison. As distasteful as it is to him, he investigates the island religion in the local library, and becomes convinced that young Rowan is being held against her will, to be used in some dreadful pagan ritual. From here the story accelerates to its harrowing conclusion, one that made my blood run cold when I saw it first, and still has the power to unsettle, all these years later.

This is an extraordinary film, literate and lyrical, part horror film, part investigative thriller; it is a film I think you could genuinely say is unique, just dont expect any chainsaws or psychos! The performances are all 5 Star, with Christopher Lee in particular stating in the documentary something I have heard often over the years, that it is his favorite performance an opinion I certainly would NOT disagree with! In fact I would go so far as to say that I think Lee and Woodward have never been better.

As I said before, the Limited Edition is, without a doubt, the version to watch, but be warned, whilst the transfer of the film is excellent overall, the restored footage is of noticeably inferior quality although it does come in a very cool wooden box! Another element of the film that deserves recognition is the soundtrack; written especially for the production, it has a wonderful late 60s/early 70s folk feel about it, which adds immensely to the atmosphere of the film. And the documentary Ive mentioned? Excellent! The makers managed to sit down with all the major player in the film, including Woodward and Lee, indeed, this is one of the most extensive interviews Ive seen with Lee, who has his own theories as to what actually happened to the original Wicker Man footage! If you are looking for an intelligent and unsettling film experience, then The Wicker Man is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

... and a damn good job they made of it, too. I don't think the authors of the reviews of this item criticising it as being incomplete have actually *seen* the version they're criticising. I own the Magnum video edition which is the 'complete' 102min cut, and after watching the Anchor Bay release, which is billed as 99min, I could not find one single solitary scene, no matter how small, which had been left out. This cut of the film, despite being labelled as 99min, is exactly as complete as the 102min Magnum release. If you can name what you believe is missing, then please do, because as far as I can see, the criticism here is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to the posted running time. The only exclusion from this version I could see was the scene of Willow bringing Howie tea in the morning, and that has *never* been included in *any* release of the 102min version, and has only ever been found in the 84min cut. It only accounts for a few seconds, anyway. I'm really pleased with this Anchor Bay release, and that they've taken the trouble to restore the extra footage interchangeably with the higher quality print. It gives me a VHS (and a DVD, yes this is one of my favourite films :-)) that is a much better quality overall than my sadly worn down Magnum version. Or my 89min BBC television version, or my 84min PAL VHS version. Yes, I'm obsessed. Good one Anchor Bay in restoring this classic.

I first saw this movie in its shortened version many years ago, and I must admit to having been confused at that time. However, there were two reasons for my confusion. First, all of the nudity was removed from the televised version that I saw. Second, I was too young to understand the sexual references that appear throughout the movie. Now that I have seen the uncut version with the various nude scenes and now that I am old enough to understand many of the references, I realize that this movie was carefully crafted to lead to the ending (which I absolutely will not tell anything about).

The general story is that Rowan Morrison has come up missing, and foul play is suspected. Rowan is a child on the island of Summerisle, which is very isolated. Policeman Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives by seaplane to investigate. Sergeant Howie soon encounters strange behavior by the residents. Many of the residents do not seem to know Rowan at all. Others tell Howie that she is gone (do they mean dead?).

While Howie is bothered by Rowan's disappearance, the sexual behavior of the islanders bothers him even more. Before long Sergeant Howie learns that all the islanders are pagans, and they worship nature. While the sexual scenes are sufficiently subdued to allow an R-rating, I suspect that once upon a time this movie came close to the highest rating, at least in the uncut versions.

I find the complexity of this movie interesting, a complexity that is revealed only at the end of the movie. Unfortunately I must leave the explanations regarding the complexity to a viewer, because I promised not to reveal any significant details. The ending causes some viewers to consider this movie to be a horror movie, though only certain aspects of the movie fall in that genre.

This movie is a good exploration of modern paganism, though I am unable to discern the difference between inspiration and basis in truth as I am personally unaware of such practices. The practices shown in the movie seem plausible and all the more chilling once the totality of the movie is revealed at the end.

Christopher Lee has frequently appeared in horror movies, but this time he is a sort of grand priest or shaman and is all the more chilling because he seems like he could be an actual person. I was disturbed to realize how easily the islanders fooled Sergeant Howie, and yet the story is quite believable.

I recommend that if you see this movie you try to obtain the video of the song "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. The first time I saw the video I was reminded of this movie and was chilled rather than amused. Another interesting point of contrast is Jethro Tull's 1977 album "Songs from the Wood," which contains a number of references that can also be found in this movie. After watching this movie I think you will reconsider any interpretations you may give this music.

This movie is unusual in many ways. It is not scary, but then again this movie is not a traditional horror movie. This movie is disturbing and you should have a sense of unease that increases until the end. Some people might consider this movie to be an intellectual thriller. Call it what you will, I like this movie. I found comments that this movie is predictable to be partially true. However, those reviewers are using hindsight because there are several possible meanings and outcomes and just because they were lucky in their guess may just mean that they did not see the other possibilities.

There is a little problem. This movie exists in several versions. There is the chopped up US version that clocks in at 88 minutes. Avoid that version. There is a 99 minute version (which is this movie, the "Limited Edition"), which is better, but there is a director's cut (that I have been unable to find) that supposedly has 117 minutes. Be careful what you buy, and I hope you enjoy this very unusual movie.