The Wicker Man
Directed by Robin Hardy
- horror
The story
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.
What it’s like
Bright, sun-bleached daylight over a green Hebridean-style island, with the colour pushed toward saturated greens, reds and cream-white costumes that feel almost too clean, and a folk-song soundtrack of pipes, fiddles and sung choruses that turns cheerful and then uncanny. The camera tends toward wide, composed frames and long takes of village ceremonies, dances and May-festival rituals, so the threat builds through what is held in view rather than through quick cutting. Dread sits under the surface rather than in jump scares, and the violence arrives late, brief and shocking rather than drawn out. Expect a slow, rising unease, a buttoned-up outsider's frustration and a tone that swings between folk-comedy warmth and cold horror. It suits a late-night watch with the lights on, or a viewer who wants a horror film that works through atmosphere and unsettling hospitality. It is for people who enjoy folk horror and don't mind a film that stays talky and eerie for long stretches before its harsh ending.
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