Look at some of the quotes from movie critics back when “The Wicker Man” was originally released in the 1970s and you’ll see a lot of talk about how eerie, scary, spine-tingling and not easy to shake off it is. But that was back then.

It seems nowadays a movie that contains a couple of musical numbers and a number of naked women dancing around just isn’t that eerie, spine-tingling or scary. To give the film some credit though, it is still hard to shake off considering how poor its production quality is and how odd and weird it is for the most part.

The film surrounds Police Sergeant Neil Howie, played by Edward Woodward, who is sent an anonymous letter recommending he investigate the disappearance of a young girl on a remote island. Howie flies to the island and during his investigations discovers the entire population of the island participates in a Celtic neo-pagan cult that believes in re-incarnation, worshipping the sun, engaging in fertility rituals and sexual magic in order to appease nature.

Looking at the film in terms of its cult classic status is relatively easy. The acting is cheesy, the dialogue hokey and overall its most dramatic moments cannot even fight away laughter at the expense of how over the top it is. The film combines thriller, existential horror and musical genres, and the mix is a combination that doesn’t work well in making something to be taken seriously.

Christopher Lee gives a memorable performance though. It doesn’t take long to see the virtually unrecognizable actor in a dress dancing around a fire and in a parade evoking his inner Cher. Who knew he would look that good in long black hair?

“The Wicker Man” is enjoyable but be prepared for a weird experience. Expecting something scary or suspenseful will perhaps let the viewer down too much for them to enjoy how bad the film really is. It isn’t quite as enjoyable as the remake starring Nicolas Cage is, but that is a tall order for any movie to do when considering how great of a train wreck the Cage version is. Subsequently the older one’s finale is much more of a twist and shock, and a lot more eerie. So perhaps when those movie critics of the 1970s were making up their quotes to go on the film’s posters, that’s all they remembered. But don’t be fooled. “The Wicker Man” is a gloriously bad film worth every cent of admission to it.