THE WICKER MAN

Sergeant of police Howie was given the task of finding Rowan Morrison, a child mysteriously disappeared on the Scottish island of Summerisle. Arrived on the island, Sergeant Howie, a good Christian, will have difficulty getting in touch with the religion professed by the islanders, based on free sex; the inhabitants of the place, including a woman who should have been Rowan's mother, will initially deny knowing the girl. The sergeant begins to realize that there is something shady behind the whole affair, until he even finds the grave of little Rowan, but inside there is something other than the lifeless body of the girl. Meanwhile, the first of May, the day when the islanders celebrate a festival to thank their deities, is approaching more and more... "The Wicker Man" is a film that seeks to focus the viewer's attention on the feeling of estrangement in which the protagonist finds himself, thanks to the various orgiastic scenes and rituals, which make everything seem so strange and perverse, very disturbing, although there is no scene that presents splatter details throughout the film. The unease that is felt when watching "The Wicker Man" is not even softened by the presence of some songs and dances, which could almost remind in some scenes of a real musical. It is rather clear that one of the intentions of "The Wicker Man" is to denounce the concept of religion, a theme that certainly must be addressed very delicately and the film in question does it with a proper approach that does not skimp on showing and describing the degeneration of the cult in a completely explicit way. A masterpiece of psychological/religious horror that unfortunately has not yet been released in Italy, neither in VHS nor in DVD (there is only one version broadcast on television), probably due to the hot topics that go against the Catholic religion, but that make "The Wicker Man" a unique film of its kind. In the cast we also find Cristopher Lee in the role of the leader of the religious sect, who offers us here probably his best performance to date (according to himself), moreover, Lee also appears as the producer of the film. Recommended to everyone and not just to horror fans, although not particularly suitable for the most impressionable viewers, "The Wicker Man" is a gem that even today, many years after its release, manages to achieve its goal of confusing and misleading the viewer without revealing anything until the unexpected final twist. To be seen at least once in a lifetime for all lovers of thriller/horror.