THE WICKER MAN (1973, GREAT BRITAIN)

Behold! The Wicker Man!
Christopher Lee sets the tone
in The Wicker Man

I first saw The Wicker Man on the USA network during the 80's and thought it was a creepy, but effective movie about a policeman that goes to investigate the disappearance of a girl on a island of pagans and is met with resistance or indifference at every turn.

Watching it again, I do realize I missed Britt Eckland's nude ritual dance during my initial viewing (I would have remembered seeing that) and a few of the outdoor pagan rituals that involved nudity as well. I also didn't remember the policeman character (Edward Woodward) as being such a devout Christian. It's an important part of the plot and adds greatly to his confrontation with the Pagans.

The fact that this film doesn't devolve into camp is a credit to the filmmakers and the performers. To see how easily that could happen, one has to only look at The Wicker Man remake with Nicholas Cage (Not the Bees!)

Britt Ekland performing her exotic dance number

in The Wicker Man