Burning Man or Burned Bridges?

Its a bit strange going into watching a film for the first time, 46 years after it was made, fully knowing what the ending was, but finally tonight, thanks to Horror Month, I got around to watching The Wicker Man.

Having been told to stay clear of the Nicolas Cage remake with a passion, I went straight to the original Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland movie.

What a film.

Woodward is a man of God and also a police officer. He turns up on an island investigating a missing girl, but soon realises that the Island is not all it’s cracked up to be. He can’t get off the island as he flew there with Thomas Cook (just kidding), and gets trapped when his plane won’t get going.

On the island, it’s clear the locals are a little odd. They idolise sexual imagery and have kids dancing around naked to folk music, they are singing odd little ditties in the bars at all hours and just generally acting strange. Woodward discovers they are pagan with a whole host of strange beliefs and customs.

Its when he meets Christopher Lee’s head guy that things start to take a turn for the worse, all building up to the climactic ending, which many people will already know about.

The shock of the ending is somewhat removed when you know its coming, but it doesn’t make it any less nasty. The whole film has zero gore or blood, but the knowledge of what is happening is bad enough.

A great film that I am annoyed I have taken this long to actually see.

Cheers Horror Month!