The Wicker Man
British Lion Film Corporation | Release Date: August 7, 1974 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireAdam Smith
The Wicker Man is, more than anything else, a film about what people can do in the name of religion or, more generally, belief. Its power comes not from appeals to the supernatural but from a deep understanding of our own undeniable nature. Horror doesn't get much closer to home than that. Read full review
100
The GuardianAnne Billson
The Wicker Man is influential not just on subsequent horror cinema, but on the thriller genre in general in the way it sets an artfully composed series of traps for its unwitting protagonist, expertly wrong-footing both him and the audience until the devastating ending. Read full review
100
Time OutDavid Fear
It remains a how-to model for making something that fancies itself a slow-burn thriller—until it isn’t slow-burning whatsoever. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
There is genuine fear in its nightmarish tableaux: the breast-feeding woman holding an egg in the ruined churchyard is like a detail from Hieronymus Bosch. And that final sequence, with the eponymous Wicker Man, is inspired. Read full review
100
Total FilmNick Setchfield
A truly cerebral fear flick, edgy, brooding, packing the power to freeze your bones and claim your sleepless thoughts at two in the morning. Read full review
100
Film ThreatStaff (Not Credited)
Not really a horror film at all, but a dark religious thriller with a creepy edge and a song in its heart. The film wittily mixes the starkest possible religious conflict with enchanting 70’s era folk music, creating the first comparative religions quasi-musical thriller. Read full review
100
CineVueCraig Williams
It’s an offbeat masterpiece that reveals the dark heart of Britain through the perennial tension between social progress and the burden of the past. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The Wicker Man ultimately succeeds on the strength of its powerful imagery, its increasingly chilling tone, and its final, sudden shock.
90
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Anthony Shaffer penned the screenplay which, for sheer imagination and near-terror, has seldom been equalled. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A film that defies categorization, The Wicker Man can be considered to be a horror film, a psychological thriller, a musical, or a melodrama. In reality, since it includes elements of each of those types, it literally has something for just about everyone. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)John Haslett Cuff
This excellent British film is an eerie, thoroughly engrossing thriller about the disappearance of a youngster and the events that follow when a policeman goes to a small, privately owned island to investigate. [23 Jan 1988]
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
An odd, one-of-a-kind little film that features an involving plot by Anthony Shaffer and a performance by Christopher Lee that the iconic actor declares is his best. It also features paganism. Lots and lots of paganism. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The Wicker Man is intelligent entertainment that takes its subject seriously without resorting to gratuitous effects to make a point. It remains a fine example of occult horror that remains with the viewer well past its conclusion. Read full review
75
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Robin Hardy's 1973 cult horror film passed through several distributors, several versions, and several bankruptcies, picking up a powerful reputation along the way. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMichael Nordine
Knowing something is up and knowing just what that is prove to be two very different things for both protagonist and viewer, however, and The Wicker Man is propelled by the thrill of not knowing. Read full review
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