A Filmmaker's Review: 'The Wicker Man' (1973)

Directed by Robin Hardy, this British Classic makes a great excuse film for a rainy day and is possibly one of the greatest films created quintessentially by the British. It is an amazing film with all the trimmings of a horror/thriller cult classic.

Let's start off with my history with this film because it is a pretty interesting history to be honest. Let me go all the way back to before the 40th anniversary in 2013 and let me take you back, way back to 2008 - near around the time that Heath Ledger had died. (Heath Ledger has nothing to do with the story - it's just about putting time into context). My 12th birthday had just gone by and the world was upset because Heath Ledger had passed away at 28. I was watching the news whilst reading a book on cults and rituals for some reason - the news covered his death whilst the book covered the 'Burning Man' festivities. After this, I decided to give some research a go in the school library and looked up books to do with the burning man. I found a few but nothing of any value - I asked my friend who told me that there was a film her dad watched that looked like the picture of the burning man in the book I was holding. After this, we started to seek out the film and I found something called The Wicker Man but nobody actually had a copy so that I could borrow it (you see, streaming wasn't out back then, you actually had to get the DVD). And then, when I did find it - I was too young to borrow it because you had to be over 16. I was rightfully pissed off and so, I completely forgot about the whole thing and set my mind to something else.

I was 17 when the 40th anniversary for The Wicker Man came around and by then, I was still studying and trying to get my grades to go off to university in the coming years. I didn't really have too much time to be fooling around with cult ritualism DVDs - but I was that kind of kid that used to skip school. I had heard about the 40th anniversary edition of the film from an article I read online and really thought to myself 'was this the film I was looking for some years ago?' Of course my answer was yes and I proceeded to actively seek out the film again - properly this time. When I did find it, because it had just come out - it was a bit of a rage and so, I waited until the hype had died down so that I could just kick back and enjoy the movie. I got halfway through before I became sidetracked into studying for an exam.

As I owned the film now, I proceeded to watch it many many times all the way through over the coming years and recently, I replayed it yet again and I forgot really how much I enjoyed that film. It's a visually stunning movie with all the makings of a cult classic. From the atmosphere to the filmmaking techniques, from the story to the dialogue to the music score and back again. From start to finish, from beginning to end - The Wicker Man (1973) is one of those films that you watch and never forget. It is the making of one of the biggest films in horror cinema history - cults. From The Endless to Apostle to Midsommar and further on - cult movies have all been inspired by the 1973 classic The Wicker Man. It just proves how very important this movie is.