'The Wicker Man'

To me, what makes The Wicker Man extraordinarily creepy is that the film is based upon something that is very real. That actually existed.

I don't know if there are witches, vampires, zombies, demons or people with supernatural powers or whatever.

But The Wicker Man deals nothing with that. It's an isolated island in the north of Scotland, who still practices Celtic paganism. Something that existed or still exists.

Why do other oddball, rarely-practiced religions freak us out? How is paganism any more weird than Christianity or Islam? It's not. But we don't see it every day. Plus, religion is a frontrunner's game. We all assume that if you're going to join a team, you join someone in or around first place.

When other's don't -- when they join the Kansas City Royals of religions -- it strikes us as odd considering religions, we think, are chosen. They do not choose us. So why choose something less popular?

That's the source of the creepiness of The Wicker Man. It's nothing supernatural, scary or grotesque. It's just weird and foreign. Those two tenants give us the heeby-jeebies more than anything else in the world. Good horror and suspence do that to you.

It has made me read more about Celtic pagansim than ever before. It's a fascinating advancement in religion and belief. All of us humans waiting around for some answer to fall down from the sky.

Thankfully, it co-stars the gorgeous -- and naked! -- Britt Ekland.