Christorpher Lee

This is, perhaps, one of the most lavish productions I've ever seen on the BBC and certainly the most visually stunning. It's quality all the way through - the cast is stellar with the likes of Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Warren Mitchell, John Sessions and other sundry comedians (including Spike Milligan!); the script is sublime, witty and fast moving (without losing sense of the story) and the music is lush and suitably grand.

The thing I like most about Gormenghast is that it's tremendously quirky -all the characters have their own excessive idiosyncrasies and this highlights just how trapped they all are in their own little worlds. Their trapped by the weight of the past and tradition, whilst Steerpike, who hearkens from the kitchens, wishes he could be more like them. (the irony is that, if given a choice, they would probably wish to be free... or would they?)

Nothings ever what it seems to be - all the characters undergo dramatic changes, and those that are able to adapt to those changes are able to survive -and it's not always the obvious ones. The character of Steerpike is multi-faceted and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance captures all of these brilliantly. It's difficult to know whether to loathe or pity him. His actions are dastardly, but in relation to the yoke of tyranny that the Royal Family it becomes harder to judge.

This is a really great tv series and I'm really proud that the BBC gave the novels, by Mervyn Peake the treatment they so rightly deserved.

I suppose that for modern audiences there would be little of interest in the Wicker Man to hold their 30 second attention spans. For them the film is ponderously slow, with archaic folksy music, an almost wooden performance by Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee sporting a questionable haircut...

BUT....

If they actually stop and see what the film is about, think about the ramifications, put themselves in Sgt Howie's shoes and understand what is actually happening in the story then they will get swept up in one of the greatest horror films of all time.

Yes, the film is slow - but that's because it has a STORY!!! This is a story that has so much substance to it and deals in subtlety. Yes, I know that term is a dirty word these days, but indulge me.... The Wicker Man rewards those people that appreciate the subtleties and the more you know about folk myths and legends then the quicker you'll pick up on those subtleties and the more impact the final scenes will have. Another fact - this film actually gets better on the second viewing - knowing what actually happens in the end laces the film with a sense of inevitability as you actually start noticing the details; the signs and portents that I alluded to earlier.

Sgt Howie is a straight laced Christian copper (gawd bless-‘um), almost puritanical in his faith - so Edward Woodward's portrayal of him is spot on. And it took an actor of Woodward's capability to be able to play off Howie's subtleties - especially when it came to his pivotal scenes with Christopher Lee.

The folk music is an integral part of the film and adds to the mood (and I happen to really like folk music!!)

This is a film that deserves to be re-released on the cinema so a whole new generation can see what makes a real horror film. Horror is not about what can be seen (The Blair Witch Project proved that), it's all in the mind. The true horror in the Wicker Man is not in the final scene's, it's actually in the realisation that for the whole film Sgt Howie has been a mere pawn in the most deadly game of all.

This is not a film that gives away it's secrets easily; don't expect closure here. The story has roots deeply embedded in our collective psyche, and like I said, the more you know - or even, the more open your mind is - the more you will fall under it's spell.

Oh - Christopher Lee does have a dodgy haircut - but his performance is electrifying and ranks as one of his best roles!