I've mentioned this before, I'm sure, but The Wicker Man must be just about my favourite British film of all time.

The theatrical release of this sparkling gem is watchable enough - even though many key scenes were hacked away and removed by unimaginative distributors who thought they could never find an audience for it. The idiots.

The 99 minute Director's Cut has many scenes restored, and I think it is a masterpiece. Over the years it has amassed an army of fans, and it has become cult classic, adored by many.

Personally, I love just about every frame of it. The writing in Anthony Shaffer's script is great. The music is good in its own right, and the songs compliment the film perfectly at certain moments to build atmosphere or tension - or a sense of the mysterious. With the missing scenes restored in the 99min version, there is much more context to everything that happens plot-wise, and more care is taken in the build-up of suspense. The acting is faultless from all involved - even the locals of Summerisle, who took many of the minor character parts.

Edward Woodward puts in a masterful performance as Sergeant Howie, a devout Christian Policeman sent to a remote island off the coast of Scotland to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The locals seem friendly enough to him, if rather evasive under his questioning, but he gradually discovers that Christianity has been abandoned on Summerisle.

Summerisle is still a deeply religious place, but the locals have returned to older ways of doing religion. They worship the joyous old gods of a pre-Christian world.

This alone upsets and disturbs the uptight (but also compassionate and likeable) Howie. But as he delves further into the case of the missing girl, he begins to suspect that something terrible has happened. Maybe there is more to this pagan community than joyful rituals, the lack of offence regarding public nudity, the singing and dancing in the streets during the Sabbath, etc.

He begins to suspect... human sacrifice!

In fact, an elaborate game is being played on poor old Howie. He is being manipulated by the entire community on the island, and in particular by the strange-but-erudite Lord Summerisle, played by the legendary Christopher Lee in top form.

I won't give away the ultimate conclusion of this merry goose-chase, just in case some readers haven't seen the film yet... but let's just say that it's one of the most unexpected and talked-about endings of any film ever made.

As mentioned, much of the Wicker Man rests on Woodward's performance as the Police Sergeant. He walks a fine line at times, because there are moments when he almost comes across as just a bigot. But then he also portrays a character that you sense has great personal integrity. His increasingly desperate search for the girl shows that he has real compassion in his soul.

In fact, there are no clear "good guys" or "bad guys" in this film at all. Every character is acting according to his or her sincere beliefs. For a film that vaguely fits into the horror genre, it is amazing to notice that there is no actual malice in any single character in the whole film. Everyone is only doing what they think is right, however bizarre some of it may seem to the uninitiated.

I don't think I've ever seen a film that makes religious faith itself seem so fascinating or alluring in a lot of ways. But then the dark side rears its head and we see that implacable faith can be a terrifying thing indeed.

To attract, appal, and delight all at the same time - that's quite a profound thing to manage in any film.

The ending is amazing, not only visually, but in the poetic sense that both Sergeant Howie and the locals of Summerisle get a deep pay-off that fits what they believe in.

You could argue that Howie is the loser of the film if you just took it all at face value. But then a person with Howie's devout beliefs would see Howie himself as the only real winner out of everyone. As for the locals, they no doubt see it as a win-win situation. You can read the ending in many ways depending on your viewpoint as a viewer and/or by thinking about the viewpoints of Howie or the pagan islanders.

You can watch this film as a sharp thriller-horror-musical(!) that will entertain on a surface level with nice visuals and sounds, but then there is also real depth to this film if you want to turn your brain on and think about some of the themes on offer. It is even fun just to spot all of the subtle clues to different things that the director Robin Hardy places throughout.

There's nothing I dislike about this film, except for a very small snippet of 70's music you hear when Howie is trying to escape from the locals in one short scene - it sounds like something from a dodgy old porno movie, and jars with the other atmosphere-setting pieces.

All in all, there is nothing out there quite like this film. As for a star-rating, I give this ***** out of *****.

And you can consider this my final and definitive review of The Wicker Man... until I feel compelled to write yet another one.

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Btw, some of the comments on the "Attraction" entry raised some interesting issues. I've replied to each of you in somewhat long-winded fashion in the comments box. :)