The Wicker Man Features One of the Most Disturbing Endings I Have Seen to a Horror Movie

The Wicker Man is possibly one of my favorite British horror movies that truly blew me away the first time I watched it. We follow the story of a man named Sergeant Howie who is heading to an island called Summerisle. A little girl named Rowan is missing, and Howie is determined to find her, after receiving a strange letter about her disappearance.

He meets the residents on the island, who are very strange upon first meeting. Even the leader of the island called Lord Summerisle is freaking weird, and even though Howie is already aware of this, he will not stop until he finds the missing girl.

Right off the bat, we already know that the island is a cult. They are way too freaking strange, especially one specific character in one scene that really creeped me out. Howie stays at a small hotel on the island, and he meets the owner's daughter. She starts a creepy ritual dance while naked, trying to seduce Howie, who is right next door.

Howie resists, since he is engaged, and is saving himself for marriage.

How Howie was able to stay after that interaction is absolutely insane.

During Howie's investigation into the cult, he also learns about a day known as the 'May Day,' where the people are willing to sacrifice a person in order for a good harvest, a huge concern that he had learned about from the lord of the island. Howie realizes that the sacrifice is Rowan, and he is determined to save her.

Howie continues his investigation to find the child, which becomes his biggest mistake.

When Howie decides to go back to the seaplane that he had arrived on to reach the island, to speak with the mainland for assistance into the investigation. He finds out that he is now trapped, once he sees that the airplane and the radio have been destroyed.

Howie decides to follow the people who are now celebrating the May Day, by disguising himself as one of the people that are a part of the May Day parade. He stumbles upon Rowan in a cave, and saves her, only to be found by the cult. Rowan runs back to her people with no care in the world, and Howie learns a dark truth from the leader of the island.

Rowan was not the sacrifice. Howie is.

They capture Howie, and drag him to a large wooden statue that resembles a person. The lord explains to him that he is the perfect sacrifice, because he represents a lot of good qualities that are good for their potential sacrifice. Howie tries to fight back, but he fails to go against so many people. Howie then tries to plea with the people, telling them that the harvest is only failing, because of the climate.

He warns the lord that his people will turn against him next time, but Howie is only ignored. They place him inside of the statue, along with other animals. Howie watches in horror as the lord begins to speak with his people, while they are setting the statue on fire.

The cult starts to sing and dance together, as Howie starts to pray, awaiting his doom.

The movie ends with the statue burning, killing Howie and the animals who reside inside.

In my opinion, this is one of the darkest endings I have seen to a cult horror movie. Howie's character is one of the few that I felt so bad for. I was so mad that he continued to stay on the island, wanting to find the child. I had a gut feeling that it was some kind of trick, but Howie's good heart is what kept him going, which led to his death.

Watching the cult sing and dance as he dies a horrific death is such a gut-wrenching ending.

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn