Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man was a British horror film released in 1973. It’s become a cult classic. Well-deserved, in my opinion. The first time I saw it I was stunned. There’s no obvious blood and gore – all the horror comes from the underlying story. The reworking of folklore tales and music into a convincing creation of a pagan society is very well done.
 
I was reminded of the film by two things today. First up was an article in The Guardian about the impact that the film has had on British folk music. Secondly, I’ve just been having a video call with my brother in Scotland, and he tells me that my niece and nephew are off to the Wicker Man Festival in Dundrennan tonight. I’m sure that they’ll have a great time… Hopefully, no one will get burned alive…  

Categories:

2 responses to “The Wicker Man”

  1. Gelert Avatar
    Gelert

    One of the classics. Scared the pants off me when I was a kid, in a way that most schlock-horror films can’t match.

    Did you ever see ‘Don’t Look Now’? Another classic in my opinion.

    Reply
  2. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    Ah, Don’t Look Now – one of Nic Roeg’s masterpieces. Loved it – the ending is climactic in all sorts of ways. Roeg is a brilliant filmmaker. I remember the first one I saw – Walkabout – and being stunned by the filmic "turn the page" effect as the Girl tells the story. I’d never seen anything like it up until then. And then there’s The Man Who Fell To Earth, which is simply superb, IMHO. I didn’t like Bad Timing – it struck me as sterile, despite the passion of the protagonists. His most approachable film for me was The Witches, which I also loved – he captured Dahl’s autistic take on humanity perfectly. But I have to confess that I’ve never seen Performance – and that’s an omission that I must put right one of these days.

    Reply

Leave a comment

More posts