Countdown, Day 12: The Wicker Man

I’ve seen both the 1973 Wicker Man (dir. Robin Hardy) and the 2006 remake (dir. Neil LaBute and starring Nicolas Cage). Here I am concerned with the 1973 Wicker Man, not the remake. The remake is . . . interesting. But also boring somehow. The 1973 film is, on the other hand, amazing.

The way it pits paganism and Christianity, rural and urban, old and new, etc., against each other is fascinating. The imagery of the Wicker Man of the title is striking. And Christopher Lee (Lord Summerisle) is always worth watching.

Lord Summerisle: 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.

Earlier countdown entries:

1. Night of the Living Dead, dir. George Romero (1968)
2. Dawn of the Dead, dir. George Romero (1978)
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, dir. Philip Kaufman (1978)
4. Get Out, dir. Jordan Peele (2017)
5. Hellraiser, dir. Clive Barker (1987)
6. Psycho, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
7. The Birds, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
8. Jaws, dir. Steven Spielberg (1975)
9. Teeth, dir. Mitchell Lichtenstein (2007)
10. Candyman, dir. Bernard Rose (1992)
11. Creep, dir. Patrick Brice (2014)