The Finale of The Wicker Man Will Change How You See Horror

Most good movies have unique and unexpected endings. The rationale is pretty simple: it's hard to call a movie good if its ending is completely cliché. Sometimes, a movie's ending may complement its overall quality. The 1973 British horror film, The Wicker Man—often called "The Citizen Kane of horror movies"—is a prime example.

In fact, the ending of The Wicker Man is almost always featured in the many lists of the "most terrifying movie moments." Instead of listing those rankings, let me share some behind-the-scenes facts. The lead actor, Edward Woodward, didn't see the massive and terrifying wicker man until he started filming the final scene. Prior to this, he was repeatedly asked if he wanted to visit the set to see it, but he always declined. When Woodward's character, Sergeant Neil Howie, sees the wicker man for the first time, he exclaims in shock, "O, God! O, Jesus Christ!" This astonishment was both part of Woodward's acting and his genuine reaction. Woodward said in an interview that he'd never been as scared as he was inside that burning wicker man in his entire decades-long career, adding that fear made him "act his socks off."

You might think it's natural for an actor to be scared while filming on a set where fire is involved, and that alone doesn't prove how shocking and unforgettable the ending of The Wicker Man is. So, let me tell you why the ending was so incredibly shocking to me.

I got into movies around the time The Blair Witch Project (a big hit then) sparked a new wave of horror films. Fed on a massive diet of horror films, mainly Hollywood ones, I gradually became a fan of this genre. But now I feel that being a modern horror movie fan is both a lucky and slightly boring affair. I'm fortunate because I can watch them anytime, and they always give me short-lived adrenaline rushes. At the same time, I'm weary of such movies because they're pretty much the same: the protagonist is always a lucky intruder who manages to escape after trespassing a nefarious out-of-bounds place and resisting various torments. (I bet you can think of a few horror movie series like that, right?)

Of course, if you watch enough horror movies, you'll come across some pleasant surprises, like The Witch and Midsommar. The plot twists in these films and their clever use of folklore made them standout as gems in the horror genre. Meanwhile, The Wicker Man is the pioneer of folk horror.

Set on the fictional, remote Scottish island of Summerisle, The Wicker Man follows Howie as he investigates the disappearance of a girl. The police officer, a devout Christian, soon discovers that the island's residents have ditched Christianity for Celtic paganism.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

As Howie digs deeper, he starts to suspect that the missing girl might be sacrificed by the Celtic pagans on the island in exchange for a good harvest. He eventually finds the girl, but later realizes that it's all a trap and that he's the one to be sacrificed. He voluntarily visits the island; he has power and represents the law; he's a virgin; and he's been fooled. For these reasons, he's chosen as a sacrificial offering. Howie tries to convince the island's leader, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), that sacrificing him won't do the job and even warns him that he'll be next. But the villagers proceed to imprison Howie in a giant wicker man filled with different animals. They set it on fire and gather around it while singing the medieval folk song "Sumer Is Icumen In." Inside, Howie prays to God until the flames consume him.

Even as someone without religious beliefs, I can see how this scene would be offensive to Christianity and Christians. When the wicker man's head collapses in the flames and the camera cuts to the sunset, the silent scene of the setting sun is filled with irony. It's like the sun is mocking the failure of pagans who see others as pagans, all while observing another act of faith-based violence.

I have to admit, the impactful ending of The Wicker Man also gave me a direct and deep sense of satisfaction. The main reason is the narrative twist. Unlike many modern horror films where the intruder always wins without any suspense in the end, The Wicker Man uses an outsider's gradual discovery of the truth as a narrative trap. When Howie thinks he's figured everything out, he realizes he's been caught like prey and can't escape. This twist alone is enough to provide a surprising sense of pleasure.

On the other hand, the characters in the film make its devastating ending even more impactful. Howie is chosen to be sacrificed on Summerisle because he represents authority, orthodoxy, and justice, and is a devout Christian. When Howie finds out the island's church is destroyed, sees no priests around, and witnesses young girls dance naked and adults have orgies in the cemetery, he condemns the islanders' beliefs as false with much arrogance fuelled by self-identified orthodoxy. But Lord Summerisle insists they are devout followers of the "joyous old gods" and believe their faith brings prosperity to the island. As for God, he says, "He's dead. He can't complain. He had his chance, and in modern parlance. He blew it." So, when their crops fail again, they start preparing a new sacrifice.

Howie always sees the island's faith as heresy. He despises their beliefs and tries to explain the poor harvest with modern science while also believing in eternal life and resurrection. But in the end, he dies in the flames, and all his prayers and piousness amount to nothing. We don't know if the human sacrifice will bring prosperity back to Summerisle, but we do see that the Jesus Christ Howie believes in doesn't perform any miracles. Faced with people he sees as pagans, a white man symbolizing authority and orthodoxy (including the Christian faith) ends up completely defeated. This is already a significant ideological rebellion.

There's a classic scene in The Wicker Man where the innkeeper's daughter, Willow, tries to seduce Howie, but his strict Christian discipline keeps him chaste. Her seduction is clearly a deliberate test by the islanders for him because the sacrifice needs to be a virgin, and his devoutness makes him the perfect candidate. The Wicker Man uses this ironic setup to question what those faith-based disciplines really mean to an individual and throws a huge challenge to reality: Are those seemingly unquestionable, established beliefs and cultures really worth believing in and upholding? When we start questioning a dominant culture, faith, or ideology instead of just adhering to them, we're already engaging in a kind of revolution, whether personal or societal.

After its initial release, The Wicker Man remained obscure for a long time. Faced with the film's bold rebellion, it's understandable that people feared and couldn't comprehend it. But after it was rediscovered, it entered popular culture and was continuously honored and referenced in works ranging from the film Shallow Grave to Radiohead's music video "Burn the Witch". The homage to The Wicker Man perhaps hides a kind of rebellion and possibly a sense of post-rebellion nihilism. Most people probably neither have Howie's conceitedness marked by self-proclaimed orthodoxy nor the steadfast "faith" of the Summerisle residents. They might be more like the silent setting sun at the film's end—powerless despite knowing the truth.