The Kenworthy Theatre Moscow Film Society is in the middle of their month of Euro Horror films. On May 20, they presented The Wicker Man (1973), a film about a devout Christian police officer investigating the disappearance of 11-year-old Rowan Morrison.
Viewers can watch The Wicker Man with two kinds of perspectives. One way to watch is with worry as the main character, Sergeant Neil Howie, played by the late Edward Woodward, descends further into the isolated island of Summerisle located off the coast of Scotland. The island is filled with pagan worshipers who have abandoned their Christian faith and replaced it with the old Celtic religions of before. Howie becomes lost in the locals’ own machinations as he tries to find Rowan before she is sacrificed in the hopes for a better summer harvest. The other perspective is with glee as an intruder meets his fate while barging into another community and demands that they respect his beliefs over their own.
The moment Howie arrives at Summerisle he demands respect. He Brandishes the fact that he is an officer of the law to supersede local customs to the annoyance of the townsfolk. But despite all of Howie’s authority as a police officer, and as a Christian with the Word of God, none of the authority follows him to these distant shores. Alas, for poor Howie’s sake, he never catches on to his role as the fool. He tramples around town demanding answers, using his authority to intimidate and coerce the people of Summerisle. For all his hooting and hollering, the locals never aided the Sergeant in any meaningful way.
Honestly, how could Howie expect to be helped when he would call the locals mad and heathens to their face, openly mocking their celebrations that he found offensive, all because of his own held beliefs. He’s never lived there yet tells them what is and isn’t. With how Howie acts throughout his investigation, none of it ever endears him to the community he had come to help, further cementing his fate in the eyes of the pagan worshippers.
Despite Howie’s attempts to veil his purpose, everyone really knew why the Sergeant had arrived on their far-flung island. It wasn’t because of the missing girl, but because of a sinister plot set by the Lord of Summerisle himself, played by the legendary Christopher Lee.
Howie plays his role exactly how the Lord and people of Summerisle predicted. At one point Howie proclaims, “Miss, I hope you don’t think I can be made a fool of indefinitely.” After barging into the manor of Lord Summerisle, throwing the carcass of a dead hare onto the floor and calling what they have done sacrilege, the sergeant willingly dresses as a fool for the big harvest May Day festival.
After everything Howie had done, who couldn’t root for such a gullible character’s end? Howie was a great main character for a horror movie, allowing me to enjoy this movie through multiple lenses as I cheered and rooted against his adventure.
The next installment in the Euro Horror series is “Possession” on May 30 at 7 p.m. at the Kenworthy. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door for $7.
Ricky Simmons can be reached at [email protected]