Wicker Man, The: Limited Edition (US)

Well what can be said about this movie?? Well actually quite a lot, and now that Anchor Bay have released a quality limited edition DVD in a very flashy wood case with a remastred version of this classic with decent extras and a bonus disc featuring the directors cut of the movie, my fingers are shivering with excitement as I type this review.

There is a very big following of this cult classic and rightly so, its a fairly low budget production that produces atmosphere that is rarely seen in a movie these days. The majority of the movie while holding your intrest tends to make you wonder where the film is actually going, and although its a fairly simple plot-line the climax defies belief and will leave the viewer shocked and leaving a lasting impression for many days after viewing

The basic story is a Sgt Howie (Woodward) travels to a remote part of the scottish isles after claiming a letter has been sent from an anonymous source about a girl apparantly gone missing. Upon arriving Sgt Howie discovers the locals are a bit strange, and after putting several events together finds out that they all worship some sort of god that resembles a kind of pagan religion. Howie starts to suspect that the locals lead by a Lord Summerisle, (Christopher Lee) have murdered the little girl in a sacrafice to their god due to failing crops. However as Howie gets closer and closer to finding out the truth what he doesnt realise is that the locals have something much more chilling in store.

This movie never ceases to amaze me, its an absolute classic and i cant think of a better horror movie to come out of England since. The finale will leave you stunned and the build up mearly adds to the brilliant atmosphere that is The Wicker Man.

Right lets get on to the DVD itself, The picture quality is quite nice considering the movies age (1973) with quite a soft picture throughout but most of the dirt has been cleared up. The soundtrack has been remastred into 5.1 but not that you would notice, almost everything comes out of the centre channel anyway, they may aswell just of stuck with the original mono.

The extras come in the form of a fascinating documentary called "The Wickerman Enigma" featuring upto date interviews with all the cast and crew, we also have the usual TV spots, Trailers, Radio Spots and Talent Bios. There is also an easy easter egg for you to find which also adds a little bit of depth to the movie, Sadly there is no commentary evident which is the only real let down to this edition. The second disc adds 11 mins of extra footage which add little if nothing to the story line, but for the fans its gold dust.

At the end of the day the real winner is the movie itself, if you dont buy this your mad, and if you do buy and luckily find the limited edition then you will probably have added not only the best looking case ever created for a DVD but also one of the best movies to your collection.