Do sit down, Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent.
This is not what most people would call a horror film, yet the situation created in the movie is indeed horrific.  Being on this island is like being stuck in the Twilight Zone, where everyone has gone mad and no one will listen to reason. The strange beliefs and rituals of the residents of this island painfully stretch the imagination of the God-fearing Sergeant Howie. He is shocked at every turn by what he sees and experiences, but he remains determined to fulfill his duty: to find the missing child.<br /><br />The Wicker Man is quite a unique film. The tone set on the island is morose and dark, layered beneath a seemingly happy culture of "flower children" dancing and making love in the fields. This is the type of movie that truly makes you think.  You feel as though you are Sergeant Howie, trapped on this island where common sense seems to be sharply askew - where you are essentially on your own.<br /><br />The end sequence of this movie is quite disturbing. This begins with the May Day ceremony, where the townspeople dress in costumes and proceed to the mountaintops. The whole aura of the scene is unsettling. It is here that the plot unfolds and the horrifying intent of the people of this island is revealed. The final scene is gripping and distressing. Very well done.