Horror movies don’t tend to get lots of love from critics, but 1973’s The Wicker Man stands out as an exception. Still well-regarded 50 years after its release, I finally gave it a look for myself.

Scottish police officer Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) receives a mysterious anonymous letter. It claims a 12-year-old girl named Rowan Morrison (Geraldine Cowper) went missing and requests his help.

Sgt. Howie flies to the coastal island of Summerisle and immediately finds himself in a quirky society led by the strange Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). As Sgt. Howie attempts to locate Rowan, he finds himself submerged deeper and deeper into this cultish location.

Often when one views a classic after hearing all the years of praise, the film struggles to live up to its reputation. For instance, inevitably everyone who views Citizen Kane for the first time wonders why it attracts all the fuss.

This impacted me as I went into Wicker. Given the film’s glowing reputation, I came away a bit disappointed by the actual film.

I think this stemmed mainly from genre expectations. Wicker gets tossed into the horror bucket, and I don’t think that fits especially well.

Whereas I entered Wicker with the belief I’d find something pervasively creepy and unsettling, the end product didn’t really follow that path. While we certainly find some strange moments, the film never comes across as particularly off-putting or scary – well, not until the finale, at least.

Instead, Wicker feels like a drama with social commentary, primarily in the ways the liberal and free Summerisle inhabitants contrast with the prudish and uptight Sgt. Howie. This becomes the story’s primary source of tension.

At times, Wicker tips its hand – and era – a bit too much. The film paints Sgt. Howie as uptight and insufferable, a factor that tends to make us side more with the locals.

This definitely feels like a reflection of society circa 1973. The hippie movement was on the wane by then but the decade hadn’t gone post-Watergate cynical and selfish yet, so the vibe leftover from the 1960s counterculture remained.

I think that influences Wicker. The story paints the Summerisle society as largely positive but misjudged by a disapproving “straight” culture.

That said, Wicker doesn’t devolve into a simplistic tale of happy hippies vs. uptight prudes, especially as the movie evolves. The Summerisle folks can seem maddeningly opaque, and this means they come across as more warped than would be the case in a film with a more clear sense of them as pure and in touch with nature.

This turns into the essential question of the movie. Are the Summerisle people good and true but simply painted as flawed by an uptight society, or does something more sinister really come into play?

Wicker never truly answers that question, though the shocking ending nudges us in one direction. Still, even then the movie doesn’t beat us over the head, as it still leaves the Summerisle people open to interpretation.

All of this leaves Wicker Man as a fairly interesting view of alternative societies and how they clash with more traditional ones. I don’t know if I see it as a classic, but it proves generally provocative.

The Wicker Man appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though usually solid, the image took a hit due to issues with its source.

In particular, some scenes in this “Final Cut” came from less than stellar prints. The movie’s opening looked soft and overly bright, for instance, and a few more examples in that vein cropped up the rest of the way.

Otherwise the film offered pretty solid visuals. Some occasional instances of softness appeared, but most of the flick looked accurate and well-defined.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt light – though occasionally a little too light – and print flaws didn’t become a distraction.

Colors usually offered a warm appearance – outside of those iffy shots I mentioned, however, as those became too pale. Nonetheless, the hues generally worked fine.

Blacks and shadows also suffered during those “anomaly scenes”, of course, but otherwise these elements seemed well-depicted. The iffy scenes created enough issues to drop my grade to a “B-“, but I still largely felt pleased with the image.

As for the movie’s DTS-HD monaural audio, it came across as perfectly adequate given its age but no better. This meant speech that could feel a bit reedy but that betrayed little edginess and always remained intelligible.

Some dodgy looping popped up, however. This became especially true since someone needed to dub the Swedish Britt Ekland’s lines to give her the appropriate Scottish accent.

Music and effects followed suit, as they showed acceptable clarity. Nothing about those elements managed to exceed age-related expectations, though, as these components seemed perfectly decent and that’s about it. Anticipate a workable soundtrack.

A few extras round out the disc, and Worshiping The Wicker Man runs 23 minutes, 36 seconds. It offers notes from film critics Frances Morgan and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, film editor Chris Tilly, and filmmakers Eli Roth, James Watkins and Ben Wheatley.

The program looks at genre domains and their views of the film. Essentially an appreciation of the movie, we get a decent overview, if not one with great insights.

The Music of The Wicker Man spans 16 minutes, two seconds. It involves associate musical director Paul Carpenter and music writer/label owner Jonny Trunk.

Unsurprisingly, this piece covers the movie’s score as well as its eventual soundtrack release. Expect a moderately informative piece but nothing tremendously insightful.

Next comes an Interview with Robin Hardy. This gives us a 16-minute, 59-second chat with the director.

Hardy looks at the film’s roots and development, collaborating with screenwriter Anthony Shaffer, cast and performances, sets and locations, and its legacy. Hardy delivers an informative chat that works well enough to make me wish he’d done a commentary.

A Restoration Comparison goes for one minute, 55 seconds. It provides a simple series of before/after shots without details, so it seems not especially useful.

The disc opens with ads for American Psycho, The Blair Witch Project, Angel Heart and Texas Chainsaw. We also find the trailer for Wicker.

While perhaps not as good as its legend indicates, The Wicker Man nonetheless brings an intriguing thriller. Though a piece of its era, it delivers an interesting clash of societies, with a dash of horror on the side. The Blu-ray provides generally positive picture, adequate audio and a decent set of supplements. We find a largely compelling tale here.