The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Wicker Man
Horror · 1973
Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. The investigation is further complicated as Howie’s religious views clash with those of the island’s residents.
Movie details
The Wicker Man
“Flesh to touch...Flesh to burn! Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!”
1973 Horror 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.5 / 10
103.9K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
92 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
87 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.3 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. The investigation is further complicated as Howie’s religious views clash with those of the island’s residents.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Wicker Man?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Exorcist
Horror · 1973
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The Dogs
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Books of Blood
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A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.
The Kindred
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Saint Catherine
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An orphaned girl is rescued from a satanic ritual and taken to Saint Catherine Institute for homeless youth. There she will learn new skills while facing demons that stalk her.
Apostle
Horror · 2018
In 1905, a man travels to a remote island in search of his missing sister who has been kidnapped by a mysterious religious cult.
The Night Flier
Horror · 1997
For cynical tabloid journo Richard Dees, facts are always stranger than fiction. Every headline is a dead-line. Serial killers, UFO abductions, tales of molestation, mayhem and murder. To some the tales are mere sleazy fantasy – but his faithful readers believe. And now there's a new story: The Night Flier. What is it that travels by night in a dark-winged Cessna, lands at secluded airfields and murders local residents? Dees begins to track the unknown killer in a Cessna of his own, uncovering clues that reveal a pilot more terrifying than he could have ever imagined.
The Resurrected
Horror · 1991
Charles Dexter Ward, a wealthy scientist, uses an ancient diary and human remains to begin a terrifying and bloody pursuit for immortality.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Robin Hardy
Written by
Anthony Shaffer
Edward Woodward
Sergeant Neil Howie
Christopher Lee
Lord Summerisle
Britt Ekland
Willow MacGreagor
Diane Cilento
Miss Rose
Ingrid Pitt
Librarian
Roy Boyd
Broome
Lesley Mackie
Daisy
Court is in session
Put The Wicker Man on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.