In this film, Sgt. Hugh (Edward Woodward) faces a different path in his life by arriving in the small island of Smersisle in Scotland to investigate the report of a missing child. It seems that things will be quite strange as the inhabitants of the town did not claim the presence of this child with more rituals that occur there and they seem quite strange rituals.
A truly unique horror movie, one of the odd handful throughout history that doesn't really seem to have been influenced by anything and has no obvious heirs, not even its own remake.
Robin Hardy's 1973 cult horror film passed through several distributors, several versions, and several bankruptcies, picking up a powerful reputation along the way.
The gothic ambiance and mood synonymous with the era's familiar tales of unholy menace is wholly absent. If there is evil here, it doesn't know it's evil.
Essentially, it's an insane guilty pleasure, still enjoyable for its delightfully eccentric casting and for the funniest, creepiest pub scene in British movies outside of next week's reissue, Withnail & I.
Like many of the best horror/thrillers, The Wicker Man works because it surprises audiences, relying on carefully-nurtured suspense rather than cheap, theatrical shocks.