The Wicker Man - To watch or not to watch
Iâm one of those people who have never seen a Star Wars movie. Did you gasp? Does that shock you? Well itâs the truth, Iâve just never got around to it, never felt the urgency, I feel a bit âmehâ about the whole series, to be honest. Still shocked? Yes, it feels like the vast majority of the world is shocked when someone admits this. Itâs the same in the Pagan community when you admit that you havenât seen the movie âThe Wicker Manâ (the 1973 version).
For a long time, it just wasnât a film on my radar as it tends to get lumped in with horror movies and I really donât like horror movies. So it became irrelevant to me. And then I started mixing with Pagan folk, either on line or in real life and it became clear that this film was considered the holy grail of movies in the Pagan world. No one could believe I had reached my mid-forties and not seen it. The shock! The horror! âOMG â how can you not have seen it?â âBut itâs a classic, itâs a must-see film!â âItâs the best Pagan film, ever!!â Or words to that effectâŚ.
Beneath this rather average exterior lurks a wee rebel of sorts. I never like being told I must do something, so for a while I kind of wore my lack of seeing it rather like a badge of honour. And then I spotted it on the televisionâŚ.on the Horror channel, eeek. Should I scroll past? But, I thought to myself, I canât have an opinion on something that I have never seen. Something made me click recordâŚ..and then it sat on the planner, staring at me for quite some time.
One day I had a couple of hours to myself, and I begrudgingly decided to watch it. Well, I reasoned, at least if I watch it, it will clear some space on the planner. I have been massively disappointed, in the past, by films that have hype behind them, I expect so much, that it feels like an anticlimax when I watch them, so I expected to feel the same about this one, too. I genuinely expected to hate it.
But I didnât. It was quirky, it was quaint, it was definitely of its time. But it was also amusing and quite charming. It really wasnât what I was expecting, at all. Apart from the ending, not horror either. I found myself smiling at things, and also wanting to slap Edward Woodwardâs self-important Sergeant Howie upside the head. I really, really didnât hate it! I shocked myself this time.
So would I watch it again? Yes probably, as one rewatched The Sixth Sense after learning the secret, to see it with knowing eyes. Would I recommend it to folks? Possibly, yes. It is quirky and it is British and thatâs never a bad thing. Would I count it amongst my favourite ever movies. Nooooooo. But thatâs not a bad thing; Iâm very hard to please when it comes to films.
So I know you are thinking, if you have never seen the film, that you know no more about it after reading this, than you did before. Well Iâm not going to give spoilers - Iâm not that kind of girl. But I will say, if you have nothing else happening and itâs available, itâs not an unpleasant way to pass about 90 minutes.
By Heidi Patchett (Newark Pagan community member).
These are the personal thoughts of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hearth and Home: The Newark Pagan Community as a group.
