The Wicker Man

[Confabulat]

Obviously, given my avatar, I'm a huge fan of this flick.

Christopher Lee. Naked Britt Ekland. Characters breaking into song unexpectedly. And as I hate uptight Christians, the whole ending is just the best ever.

A slice of horror movie perfection.

[Romero&Juliet]

agreed.. There's something for everyone here. Well, almost everyone: the midget porn-freak demographic wasn't used to the film's advantage.

What's sad is that I actually went NUTS looking for Britt Ekland movies after I first saw The Wicker Man. I got as far as this piece of low budget slasher TRASH called Moon Over Scorpio(where she played a yankee) and then gave up.

VERY cool Avatar, Confab.

[Confabulat]

Hey thanks man.

I've lurked around these parts for over a year now (courtesy of Arrow's reviews, I never spend much time over on the main Joblo site) and I figured it was time to say something.

I'll try to behave myself and not irritate the hierarchy.

I saw Britt Ekland in an old episode of Battlestar Galactica the other day on Sci-Fi. Such a hot chick. A throw-away, but hot.

Back on subject, among other scenes, I really love the maypole scene in Wicker Man. Somehow that bit is just creepy as hell, but also toe-tappingly catchy. It's a rare movie that takes place almost completely in daylight, but is freaky and scary at the same time. And the musical numbers! Whee!

[hate m all]

gotta agree: it is ony creepy movie.(also loved britt ekland)

[Cronos]

i agree, this is a great film and i also loved the ending, its got a great story and is executed perfectly

Lee is excellent in this film

one of (if not) the best British horror (and non horror) films made

[TheAxeGrinder]

What was the deal with the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut? I haven't seen either one, but I'm just curious as to what the difference is.

[Confabulat]

I've only seen the Theatrical Cut, which I sort of regret. They have a cool Director's Cut DVD that comes in a real wooden box, but since I already have the theatrical one, it's hard to justify spending the bucks for it when there's so many movies I haven't seen.

From what I've read online, though, the Director's Cut adds several deleted scenes. Unlike, say, Blade Runner, though, most people who review them both seem to think that the new scenes are unnecessary and interrupt the flow of the movie. The overall verdict seems to be that the Theatrical Cut is superior.

Until I see it, though, who knows? That's DVD buying for you. You see a movie you really want, so you buy it, then 3 months later, a newer, cooler version comes out. Arrgh.

And it works both ways. There's finally a copy of "Brazil" available on DVD that doesn't cost $60 bucks. Finally.

[Richard Stuart]

As I said in another thread, I managed to get a 2nd hand copy of The Wicker Man directors cut for under 8 quid. :) The extra scenes don't make a world of difference, and the picture quality is quite poor. But it's interesting to watch the movie with Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward doing the commentary. Lee in particular is rather miffed about how The Wicker Man was treated throughout the years and how much footage was missing from the original version. He's clearly passionate about the film.

(Possible spoiler below, but probably not):



BTW, I also usually hate uptight Christians, but I still can't help feeling bad for Howie at the end - I liked him despite his self-righteousness.

[heretic]

could some one explain the general theme of this film I've looked over it a few times but have not seen it yet. I know its Brittish thats about it. thanks for any help

[Confabulat]

Originally posted by heretic
could some one explain the general theme of this film I've looked over it a few times but have not seen it yet. I know its Brittish thats about it. thanks for any help

A self-righteous Christian British police officer travels to a small island community to investigate the disappearance of a local girl. He soon finds that the locals don't subscribe to Christianity, but rather to the "old ways"--paganism. Plus they sing a lot. He pokes around and makes a nuisance of himself, only to find out...things are not what they seem. Hilarity ensues.

Most everyone who's seen it will always remember the ending.

[bowieee]

I can't get enough of this movie. The scene at the very end actually makes my stomach turn every single time I see it. Something about that concept horrifies me. A scene somewhat along those lines popped up in a book I'm reading called the book of three and I had to stop reading the book for a bit because it made me think of the wicker man and made me feel a bit sick :). Nice avatar and I highly reccomend picking up the wooden box it's really worth it from my point of view.

[JurassicMik]

It was a good movie, I wonder when that remake is supposed to be coming out.

[Cushing]

One of my all time faves . The Directors cut is , by far , the superior version . The extra scenes are all very important to the feel of the film and the narrative .
I visited the site recently and found it to be just as eerie as I had imagined .It's a hard film to classify as it's not really horror .It does , however have horrific aspects to it . Unlike most movies it truly is unique and one film that does not need to be remade .
I met Christopher Lee again recently and I was wearing my kilt .
Another fan asked me if I had come dressed as Lord Summerisle .
I had'nt as , being Scottish ,I do sometimes wear it .

[spacemonkey]

Great movie that gets to you on a psychological level, since there is in fact no blood, no monsters, no creatures, no fx, just plain good old fashion story telling that will chill you to the bone, right down to the last horrifying sequences.

Check out this thread here (http://www.joblo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39203&highlight=finally) for some cool Wicker Man discussion and a review. :D

[RogueSpear]

Decent movie. Good story, but the ending wasn't nearly as disturbing as has been proclaimed. Also thought the pagans plan wrapped itself up a little too neatly. There's no way for them to have known that Detective Woody would have done everything that he did. In that respect the story was a bit unbelievable. Even though, I still appreciated the basic message of the film and the whole idea of the island community was a bit disturbing. Just wasn't as impressed with the ending as some others were.

I give it a 6/10...

[countchocula]

The Wicker Man is lukewarm. The impromptu folk songs wrecked the grim mood, and the whole shebang felt disjointed. Lee is splendid, though. The guy is creepy in a wig.

[Johnny582]

lukewarm now thats a brillent word for the wicker man movie cause the movie really feels like it on the back burner the whole time,
but on my behalf I woulda brought a machine gun and killed the whole fucking town i woulda been like " EAT THIS MR DRACULA LORD OF GAYS TEA SIPING MOTHER F#^KA AHHGGGGGG" bulllets in the brains in all of them and christer lee will be like "you see what ive told you my children look at this speciment of violence hes just a ugly piece of dust in the sky" and ill reload the machine gun and ill be like " only thing ugly in the sky is your peoples guts and your brains" BAMMMMMM RATATATTA thats my ending for the movie

[Jewbo]

amazing film. one of my fave films ever not just fave horror films. love the ending to deatha nd i adore the songs. im no fan of folk music but the songs in this are great. one to prove that a great horror film doesnt need loads of blood (but tits sure do help ;)).

[Johnny582]

ok I just wanna apoligize about my last post .I meen I know many people like the movie. I know I can get outa hand and well I hope you know I'am kiding.

[Confabulat]

I think the songs are one of my favorite bits. Unexpected, but completely keeping in character of the islanders.

And catchy stuff, too. Well sorta. The Brit pop band Pulp has a song called "Wicker Man" that isn't really about the movie, but heavily samples the song Britt Ekland dances naked to. And there's some interesting remakes of "Say How Do" out there as well.

I'm going to miss free music.

[Nekroman]

This is one of my all time favorite movies even though it isn't listed under my avatar as such. only so much room to type there! heh heh. Anyways this was one that one my first viewing didn't really get me that much but upon further viewings I fell in love with it. maybe it's because I'm pagan anyways and I relate to the residents of Summerisle (except for the whole dealie at the end). Edward Woodward's character is such an asshole and I love how Christopher lee counters his personality.

[spacemonkey]

Originally posted by Confabulat
I think the songs are one of my favorite bits. Unexpected, but completely keeping in character of the islanders.

And catchy stuff, too. Well sorta. The Brit pop band Pulp has a song called "Wicker Man" that isn't really about the movie, but heavily samples the song Britt Ekland dances naked to. And there's some interesting remakes of "Say How Do" out there as well.

I'm going to miss free music.

I think theres also an Iron Maiden Song called Wicker man, and I think one of Bad Religions album covers features a Wickerman being burned to cinder.

[countchocula]

Originally posted by spacemonkey
I think theres also an Iron Maiden Song called Wicker man, and I think one of Bad Religions album covers features a Wickerman being burned to cinder.

I combed through Amazon out of curiosity, and I couldn't find the BR album that you're referring to. Can you post the cover here?

[spacemonkey]

http://www.lyred.com/covers/bad_religion_-_process_of_belief.jpg

Its this album, but the artwork is not in the front cover, its in the back of it. Considering the fact that the album has a lot of songs that deal with the subject of faith and religion and the albums title (process of belief) Id understand why they would have a drawing of the wickerman with all those people inside it.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004TH7Z.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

And this Iron Maiden album has the song called Wicker Man

[Jack_Cheze]

Wicker Man rules. If you like it I'd recommend renting "Straw Dogs", not a horror at all, but very tense movie and you get old school hottie Susan George

[Rib Eye]

Just saw this film for the first time the other night and it is ACES!

[teenkiller]

Just saw this movie tonight so I figured I'd use the search engine for a decent Wicker Man topic.

I own that Bad Religion album and I never knew what that picture was. When I watched the movie tonight I thought the wicker man being burned at the end looked familiar but couldn't figure out why. Now I realize why.

You definitely have to be able to tolerate suspense over a kill, kill, kill pace to be able to enjoy this one. It is pretty slow. Slow is not to be confused with yawn inducing though. I liked the mystery set up. The whodunit. Like countchocula said already the songs seemed misplaced though.

Both leads handed in terrific performances and came across as believable. Overall I rate it an 8/10. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[miceland1]

I have to chime in here and say that the original holds up very well years later.

There are plenty of musical references to the Wicker Man including a song by Souxsie and the Banshees.

I was very puzzled by a redo that they did a couple years back. Why mess with this movie? I didn't even bother to see it so I can offer no comparison.

Did anyone see it?