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The Wicker Man
1973 93 min United Kingdom R 18+
★7.7
Horror
Director: Robin Hardy
🎭 Based on
«Ritual»
byDavid Pinner
Trailers
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Description
Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. The investigation is further complicated as Howie’s religious views clash with those of the island’s residents.
Budget:
$810,000
US Gross:
$148,882
Worldwide:
$885,371
Starring
Edward Woodward
Actor
Christopher Lee
Actor
Diane Cilento
Actor
Awards
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Horror Film
Saturn Awards 2014
— Best Special Blu-ray/DVD Edition
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Director
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Screenplay
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Original Score
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Actor
Key opinion
The Wicker Man is widely regarded as a seminal, atmospheric classic of folk horror that eschews traditional gore in favor of psychological tension and religious clashing. While its slow-burn, non-traditional narrative and musical elements divide viewers expecting conventional scares, most critics celebrate its unique tone and cultural impact.
| Acting | Edward Woodward provides a compelling performance as a rigid, righteous policeman whose internal descent serves as the film's moral anchor. | |
| Acting | Christopher Lee delivers a career-best performance as the sophisticated yet menacing Lord Summerisle, embodying the film's central ideological threat. | |
| Score | The integration of folk music and song creates a hypnotic, ritualistic atmosphere that heightens the sense of unease. | |
| Pacing | The film's deliberate, slow-burn approach to storytelling rewards patient viewers with an unsettling, lingering tension, though others find the pacing to be overly languid and lacking in traditional horror suspense. | |
| Screenplay | While some admire the film's shift from a detective-style mystery to an absurd, surrealistic folk tale, others find the narrative structure and tone to be uneven and occasionally bizarre. |