Watching The Wicker Man, it's interesting to wonder just how director Robin Hardy managed to conjure up such an unsettling tone. Indeed, this 1973 British horror classic, which sees a police detective, Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), travelling to a remote island off the coast of Scotland named Summerisle to investigate a missing girl, is uncomfortable viewing from start to finish. Howie is the definitive fish out of water on Summerisle - deeply Catholic, he's immersed in a strange world of pagan rituals and elusive characters who seem out to make his life pure hell. The Wicker Man is near on intoxicating in the way it depicts a faraway land that seems much like our own, but where all the rules have been thrown out. As Howie moves around the island, relentless in his attempts to track down his missing target, his enquiries are consistently met with pranks and distractions. We feel his frustration, and as The Wicker Man moves towards its devastating, horrifying climax, it's hard to watch without feeling a knot tightening in your stomach. Sometimes it's those unnerving, faked pleasantries that are more terrifying than full on horror.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
