Directed by Robin Hardy
Written by Anthony Shaffer from a novel by David Pinner
1973/UK
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Lord Summerisle [quoting Walt Whitman): I think I could turn and live with animals. They are so placid and self-contained. They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins. They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God. Not one of them kneels to another or to his own kind that lived thousands of years ago. Not one of them is respectable or unhappy, all over the earth.
What an unusual and fantastic movie!
Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) visits Summerisle in search of a missing girl. The residents are very reluctant to provide information absent the authorization of Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). In any event, all deny ever knowing such a girl.
Howie, a devout Christian, is appalled to find that the islanders have adopted a pagan religion, which features a fertility cult and celebrates the gods of nature. Many of the songs they sing strike Howie as obscene. He will gradually find out more about the religion and more about the fate of the missing girl.
Howie’s investigations will get him deeper and deeper into a place he does not want to be. It would be wrong to reveal any additional details of the plot. With Diane Cliento and Britt Ekland as islanders.
I knew next to nothing about this movie and just loved it Goes straight on the Favorite New-to-Me Movie list. I cannot think of a single thing that could be improved. It is powerful, creepy, and scary without being overly gory. Highly Recommended.
THE WICKER MAN is a terrific movie.
Another movie that deals with similar themes (pagan cults still existing in the modern world) that is worth checking out is J. Lee Thompson’s EYE OF THE DEVIL (1966). For such an obscure horror movie it has an amazing cast (David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Sharon Tate, David Hemmings, Donald Pleasence). It also has a subtly weird atmosphere with hints of strange eroticism.
Thanks for the tip!
Now THAT is a cast!
Utterly classic movie. Edward Woodward wouldn’t appear on most people’s lists of Great British Actors, but he was in two fantastic movies (this and Breaker Morant) and a fantastic TV series (the incredibly bleak Callan, which makes Harry Palmer look like James Bond) – and also The Equalizer, if you’re in the mood lol
There’s two versions of this, the theatrical cut (and cut is the right word!) and the restored version, with some whole missing scenes put back in – I think the restored version is the one on Amazon Prime; it certainly is in the UK.
It’s good to know I probably got the restored version. I love Edward Woodward in “Breaker Morant” as well and am looking forward to a rewatch when its year comes up.
Edward Woodward also made an interesting dystopian 1984-style science fiction series in Britain in the late 70s, a series called 1990. It’s worth a look if you like bleak dystopian dramas.
Thanks for the tip!
Recommended indeed. I had a feeling you would like this one.
I loved it. Had never seen anything quite like it.