Sgt. Howie (Edward Woodward) of the Scottish police, a deeply religious man is lured to a remote island by an anonymous letter telling the tale of a missing girl. He is surprised to find out that no one will admit to ever knowing the girl, Rowan Morrison, even her own mother. After finally finding mention of the missing girl the schoolteacher reluctantly admits there once was a girl named Rowan Morrison, but she is not dead, just transmuted.
Sgt. Howie finally makes a visit to the man in charge, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). On the way he is treated to a number of naked girls dancing and jumping over a bonfire. At the home of Lord Summerisle he gets the history of the island. Summerisles grandfather founded the island and made a deal with a bunch of old gods who would ensure them good crops in return for being worshipped.

Sgt. Howie then begins to find clues that maybe Rowan Morrison is alive, but probably won’t be for long unless he can find her and put a stop to these psycho pagan sex fiends. That Lord Summerisle wants him gone by May Day leads Sgt. Howie to study up on the rites of May Day, leading him to some disturbing truths about Rowans fate. It’s just too bad he can’t unbend his solid Christian belief system enough to figure out the true nature of the islanders plans.

This is definitely not a traditional horror movie. If you want your horror served up with body parts and a side of blood you’re not going to find it here. There aren’t any big scare moments, just a sense of mounting dread.

Ok I guess I need to mention the songs. There is A LOT of singing going on in this movie. Truly they could write this sucker for Broadway in about an hour. Yes the songs are a little cheesy, ok make that really, really cheesy, but they are strangely catchy too. The best one takes place with Britt Ekland’s character doing the seduction dance (naked!) trying to get poor Sgt. Howie to compromise his virtue. Let me tell you the sexual tension comes right out of your TV and you will probably spend the rest of the day trying to get someone to have sex with you.

Watch this movie with an open mind and take care as to who you watch it with. You’re not going to get the nuances of this flick sitting around with a bunch of rowdies who don’t get subtle horror.

9 out of 10 nubile young pagans