The 60s and 70s were a transformative time in terms of Horror. Different types of genre’s were popping up during the two decades. The 60s were laying the groundwork for a variety of subgenres that would become representative for horror. Ranging from zombie, demonic to even the slashers would be a staple for the main genre. I’ll say that the 70s is possibly when the genre was at its strongest. You had a spectrum of films ranging from The Exorcist, Halloween and Alien to name a few that would become staples in pop culture and cemented a legitimacy to the Horror genre. This one is unique since it came from Britain, but it’s easily in the top 5 best horror films of the decade.
1. Sgt. Howie’s Investigation
You wouldn’t believe the remake was my first exposure to it. Bees and everything was the first time that I was exposed to the concept of Nicolas Cage being used as a sacrifice. While I would love to tear it apart, the original deserves my full attention and potentially readers who want to view it knowing that it’s a great movie. And I’ll state that upfront that it’s a strong movie through and through. It’s one of those films were it’s firing on all cylinders as far as performance and mystery is concerned.
The film is straightforward since we follow a police sergeant as he’s investigating a missing person’s case. He’s flown to an island where the victim has been reportedly died. What follows is his peculiar exposure to the island’s society where it’s not all that normal. Ranging from couples openly copulating with no shame and children being taught some suggestive things. It’s all shot in a way where the film has that gritty look to it. All of it looks real given the film had around a half million-dollar budget.
Sgt. Howie is a no-nonsense officer who tries to figure out his investigation. The best part is that he’s the seemingly normal person in a land where he can’t get any good information about the missing person. To the point where he tries every method that he was taught but all of it proves fruitless. All of it is like a wild goose chase where you’d think he’s making progress but something sends him back and tries to interrogate the people who may know something.
One characteristic of his that is interesting is that he’s religious. Right from the get go when he sees the salacious acts being performed, he sternly belittles them that all of that they’re doing is morally wrong. His faith is his defining trait where it works in tandem with his investigation. One moment where it’s seen how strong is when he’s being tempted by seduction. At the inn, the innkeeper’s daughter is singing in the nude and Howie tries to refrain from entering her room, to the point where he wants to but can’t.
While I’ll talk about the sub-genre of the movie, all of it feels like a descent into madness. We’re focused on the core storyline and I felt like I was loosing it when the civilians weren’t cooperating. It all felt like they were acting dumb and using semantics to say that she died but that the body was exhumed through their beliefs. The execution of all of it slowly reveals to the audience that the whole island is a cult. It’s one thing to have a horror film’s antagonist be one singular person, but a group makes it even scarier since we don’t know how or if the situation will be resolved.
So let’s talk about the cult. Just the way that Howie experiences all the odd traditions and rituals is like a cinematic defamiliarization. Meaning that you have one person be so weirded out by something that is completely normal. A fish out of water story if you will, but the fish is slowly losing water as its fried. The moments when we see them either dancing or an isolated person doing something odd is shot in an almost documentary way. To the point that you’d forget that this is supposed to be a horror movie.
I love how the film has a mystery angle to it initially. Especially when we see Sgt. Howie do his work as he tries to figure out where the missing person is. It all feels like the cult stuff is very seductive since we want to know how they live their lives knowing that their non-conformist to reason. Just the subtle way the movie does the switch is when Howie realizes that he’s been had. All of it is the dread that hits him and us since the whole premise of why he’s there was orchestrated and he wasn’t aware of it.
2. Folk Horror
This is a very different kind of horror where there’s no killer or anything that is supernatural. To the point where this is probably the rare examples of a nonviolent horror movie where we don’t see the usual hallmarks of what defined the genre. All of it was by design from the director who was quoted saying that he wanted to make this film different than its contemporaries. Simply put that this didn’t involve an overall threat to a society but just seeing how faith can be used in its cruelty.
I think what makes Folk Horror so different is that it has that isolating feel to it. Any sense of normalcy or just being comfortable is gone since we see the characters being put in a place where it’s isolating to a point where there’s no help to be had. One would think that it’s a foreign concept of a genre where due to paganistic paste that Britain would have exclusive rights to it. The moment in the library where Howie is looking up the pagan background perfectly prepares the audience of what we’ll see.
Anything ancient or having a group of zealots who can’t be reasoned with is scary. I think for the most part why the genre is underrated in its pure form is that we’ve advanced so much and yet there’s an underlying feeling that we’re unprepared for the unknown. Such as when Howie’s investigation goes nowhere as his usual expertise fails him since he doesn’t know what exactly he’s dealing with. Also when interrogating the islanders that they’re no help to him since both think differently of what it means to die.
3. The Remake
As I mentioned before, my first exposure to this story was many years back when I watched the Nicolas Cage remake. It was at a bus ride where I was accompanied by mother’s college trips and the movie was playing. Years later, I rewatched it and it was just a massive misfire of a remake to the classic. Just the execution and the performance of Cage made the film into an unintentional comedy. The film’s been meme’d to death, especially the bees scene that wasn’t in the theatrical cut of the film. While I would like to do a compare and contrast, it’s clear the original is the best one. Not even in a mile.
4. Overall
The Wicker Man is one of the best horror films of the 70s and the best horror film from the U.K..
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