1973’s The Wicker Man. Starring the great Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle. A cop, Sgt. Neil Howie, played by Edward Woodward, arrives on the island of Summerisle in search of a missing girl named Rowan. Sgt. Howie tries to conduct an investigation, but does not get much help from the locals. He becomes certain that they are lying to him about Rowan’s existence.
Sgt. Howie is a celibate Christian, and when he realizes that Summerisle’s citizens are pagans, he becomes disturbed by their behavior and frustrated that they won’t help him in finding out what happened to Rowan. What Sgt. Howie doesn’t know is that his presence on the island is deliberate, and what awaits him is drop-dead terrifying.
I watched this movie, bemused at the antics of the locals, and when I realized what was going on and saw Sgt. Howie’s ultimate fate, I was mesmerized. Folk horror is usually hit or miss for me, but The Wicker Man slaps!
Never watched The Wicker Man. But it doesn't seem like the remake with Nicolas Cage was well received.
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