11 HORRIFYING Films About Cults
3. The Wicker Man (1973)
This classic horror film centres around Police Sergeant Neil Howie, who is investigating the disappearance of a young girl. Her last known location was the remote Hebridean island, Summerisle.
Neil - who is a devout Christian - is appalled by the pagan practices that the locals openly indulge in. Besides this, he suspects they are being less than forthcoming with their information regarding his investigation.
When Neil meets the island’s leader, Lord SummerIsle (Christopher Lee), he is outraged by his explanation that the islanders abandoned Christianity in favour of “the old gods”, and his blasphemous suggestion that the Christian God is dead.
Christopher Lee exudes menace as the cult’s leader; he is calm and collected and utterly unshakeable in his beliefs - any sacrifices that must be made to appease his old gods are necessary and justified.
The Wicker Man might be the best example of all these films of the slow, dawning realisation that every person who Neil has met on the island since his arrival has been working against him - even the girl he was seeking to rescue is a cultist. His investigation was doomed when he first set foot on Summerisle.