MovieChat Forums > The Wicker Man (1974) Discussion > I love the path this movie leads us on!

I love the path this movie leads us on!

posted 9 years ago by DonnaMedici
9 replies | jump to latest

This film does something so genius. In a time when most horror movies end on a twist most people can see coming from miles away, this is one that actually pulls it off! I've watched The Wicker Man twice now and my horror is only heightened by the fact that you never see the end coming. Even with the viewer's assumption that the missing girl is going to be sacrificed by the villagers, the policeman Howie being the actual sacrifice is truly shocking because of the clever and subtle path the film takes the audience on.

The people, including Lord Summerisle himself, seem so open and friendly, even a little foolish and naive, that the audience members don't see the sinister end of the film coming. The events that happen and what Howie (and we the audience) witness: the Maypole dance and song, the nude dance over the fire, the parade at the end, seem so innocent and ridiculous that we have no reason or opportunity to mentally prepare ourselves for the horror that occurs. Us seeing what is absolutely going to happen at the same time as Howie makes the horror so much worse because the viewer has had no clear warning that he's to be the sacrifice. The film lays such a clever and subtle trap for him and us that we just don't see coming. Both times I've seen this film I find myself saying "Oh God, oh God!" at the revelation because the sudden and horrific truth is revealed in that one terrible, unforgettable shot.

Keeper of Rumpelstiltskin's walking stick
Lady Gold 

[–] loveagoodstory 9 years ago

Very well put and I couldn't agree more. Glad you really enjoyed the film, as did I :-)

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Free your mind and the rest will follow

[–] OldSamVimes 9 years ago

I agree.

When he comes over the rise and sees the Wicker Man for the first time his reaction totally sells it.

'OH JESUS CHRIST NO!!!!'

🌷

[–] louiseculmer 9 years ago

the film was a real shock to me when i saw it years ago. my husband put it on. i don't usually watch horror films, i'm more accustomed to the kind of film where everything turns out all right in the end, and good triumphs over evil. so i kept thinking "it'll be all right, the police will come and save him" - or, better yet, i thought it might start to rain and put the fire out, and make all those wicked people look really stupid. I couldn't believe it when he actually got burnt. It was as if james Bond had actually got eaten by the sharks. no more horror films for me.

[–] gargarie 9 years ago

The people, including Lord Summerisle himself, seem so open and friendly, even a little foolish and naive, that the audience members don't see the sinister end of the film coming.

Truly? They did not all seem evasive, deceitful, and sinister to you from the very beginning? I didn't see Howie's death coming, but the islanders were plainly hiding dangerous and violent intentions or activities... I don't understand how their behavior could be read otherwise.

[–] IJustRatePorn 8 years ago

Yeah i feel the same, its quite obvious that they are not being just goody goody

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Some islanders seem to be playing Howie but others, especially the mother, the schoolteacher and even Lord Summerisle seem sincere in their beliefs.

The film does a good job of lulling you into thinking these are weird Pagans but basically harmless, and there may even be some validity to their belief in reincarnation. Howie seems overly harsh in his bigoted ultra-conservative Christian admonitions of their unusual practices.

When the ‘dreadful sacrifice’ is revealed our sympathies shift back to Howie. He’s a decent man at heart and sincerely tried to save Rowan, and they used that goodness to trap him, and he definitely doesn’t deserve to burn alive alongside ducks and goats while a mad cult cheerfully sings ‘summer is i-cummin in!’

[–] peter_delane 9 years ago

As soon as Lindsay Kemp said "It got broke.." I would've left the Island...hang on no, after I made love to Britt I would've left the island. Howie, a true hero!

Anyway I watched this when I was really young (when was his on TV in the 80s?) and it scared the life out of me. Every aspect of it from the weird village masks, to the sweets in the shop and especially the Hobby Horse. I was too young for the plot twist so the entire experience was pure terror.

How I wish I could forget and enjoy this anew as an adult.

[–] peter_delane 9 years ago

Hmm I was actually 12 years and 8 days old. It was shown on BBC2 May 8th 1988. So not as young as first thought and quite capable of understanding the complex elements of paganism.

[–] Cinemaskype 7 years ago

Actually, it was pretty obvious to me that after admitting to Willow that he was a virgin Sergeant Howie was setting himself up as the eventual sacrifice (once the fact that a possible ritual sacrifice was revealed).

The surprise was that he being the sacrifice was inevitable (the setup and manipulation), and the MANNER of sacrifice (the spectacle of The Wicker Man).