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The Wicker Man

  • 1973
  • R
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
100K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,129
8
Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, and Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man (1973)
Trailer for The Wicker Man: The Final Cut
Play trailer1:30
5 Videos
99+ Photos
Folk HorrorSupernatural HorrorHorrorMysteryThriller

A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.

  • Director
    • Robin Hardy
  • Writers
    • Anthony Shaffer
    • David Pinner
  • Stars
    • Edward Woodward
    • Christopher Lee
    • Diane Cilento
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    100K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    2,129
    8
    • Director
      • Robin Hardy
    • Writers
      • Anthony Shaffer
      • David Pinner
    • Stars
      • Edward Woodward
      • Christopher Lee
      • Diane Cilento
    • 648User reviews
    • 203Critic reviews
    • 87Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos5

    The Wicker Man: The Final Cut
    Trailer 1:30
    The Wicker Man: The Final Cut
    The Wicker Man
    Trailer 2:12
    The Wicker Man
    The Wicker Man
    Trailer 2:12
    The Wicker Man
    The Wicker Man - Rialto Pictures Trailer
    Trailer 1:30
    The Wicker Man - Rialto Pictures Trailer
    'Midsommar' Trailer With Director's Commentary
    Clip 2:27
    'Midsommar' Trailer With Director's Commentary
    'Apostle' Director Gareth Evans on the Dark Films That Inspired Him
    Interview 1:48
    'Apostle' Director Gareth Evans on the Dark Films That Inspired Him

    Photos191

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    + 185
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    Top cast53

    Edit
    Edward Woodward
    Edward Woodward
    • Sergeant Howie
    Christopher Lee
    Christopher Lee
    • Lord Summerisle
    Diane Cilento
    Diane Cilento
    • Miss Rose
    Britt Ekland
    Britt Ekland
    • Willow
    Ingrid Pitt
    Ingrid Pitt
    • Librarian
    Lindsay Kemp
    Lindsay Kemp
    • Alder MacGreagor
    Russell Waters
    • Harbour Master
    Aubrey Morris
    Aubrey Morris
    • Old Gardener…
    Irene Sunters
    • May Morrison
    • (as Irene Sunter)
    Walter Carr
    Walter Carr
    • School Master
    Ian Campbell
    • Oak
    Leslie Blackater
    • Hairdresser
    Roy Boyd
    • Broome
    Peter Brewis
    • Musician
    Barbara Rafferty
    • Woman with Baby
    • (as Barbara Ann Brown)
    Juliet Cadzow
    • Villager on Summerisle
    • (as Juliette Cadzow)
    Ross Campbell
    Ross Campbell
    • Communicant
    Penny Cluer
    • Gillie
    • Director
      • Robin Hardy
    • Writers
      • Anthony Shaffer
      • David Pinner
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews648

    7.599.8K
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    Featured reviews

    9united100

    A cult film about cult practices...

    The best British horror film ever made? Probably, yes. The best horror film ever made? No. The best occult thriller ever? Quite possibly.

    The film was in part conceived as a vehicle for Christopher Lee to get away from his Hammer roles and give him a chance to demonstrate that, yes, he could actually act. Perversely, however, the film is in many ways homage to the films produced by the Hammer studio and is at the same time their antithesis.

    Although Lee's Lord Summerisle was certainly a stronger character than his Hammer caricatures, and was suitably sincere and sinister, it was left to Edward Woodward's bumbling, pious Highland Police Sergeant to carry the film.

    The rest of the cast are not as strong as the two central characters. Famously, it was always suggested that Britt Ekland's voice was overdubbed for the entire film. Robin Hardy has now denied that, stating that only her singing was dubbed. Even if the other actors' performances fail to match those of Woodward and Lee, somehow, it doesn't detract from the film.

    Almost as famous as The Wicker Man itself are the stories surrounding the film. The version first released was almost completely butchered from an original, almost grandiose cut of 102 minutes to a more concise 87. Christopher Lee has always maintained that this was a crime against the greatest piece of art with which he had ever been involved. The original negatives were then accidentally thrown out!

    When a fuller version finally surfaced in 2001, Lee's contentions were (at least in part) proved. The film was overall improved, and save for a couple of points of rather clumsy editing (the flashbacks Edward Woodward has as the penny drops spring to mind) and the pointless scenes before the flight to the island, it ran more smoothly and made more sense.

    The film's greatest asset comes through in whichever version you actually see. The eerie sinister atmosphere never fails to be conveyed. Somehow, the fictitious Scottish island setting of Summerisle, which could so easily turn twee at any moment steers clear of the territory occupied by Brigadoon or the now happily deceased BBC TV drama 'Monarch of the Glen'.

    The setting's remoteness, which could have been its worst enemy, is actually its greatest ally.

    Perhaps the most interesting thing about the film, however, is the way that it steadfastly refuses to fit precisely into any genre. It is all at once a horror, a thriller and even a musical! Unbelievably, these things come together and fit into the film.

    The music in The Wicker Man is unique, always adding just the right tone of eeriness or bawdiness to proceedings. A strange mix of elements including traditional folk music, it's as innovative and interesting as the soundtracks to Blade Runner, or The Virgin Suicides. The opening title sequence to the tune of Corn Rigs succeeds in transporting you with the plane over the remote coastal peninsulas and out into the Irish Sea towards Summerisle.

    My only criticism of the film (and I really am nitpicking here) is the way it goes about establishing Sergeant Howie's Christianity. I can't conceive of the Howie character adhering to any religion other than one of the obscure forms of Presbyterian Protestantism practised in parts of the Highlands of Scotland. These scenes contain an apparent reverence for the sacraments that appears more Catholic in nature. This distinction in religious backgrounds is important to understanding Howie's attitudes. Nevertheless, I am truly nitpicking when I make this criticism!

    But what ultimately makes this film is its ending. Without giving the game away for those who have not yet seen the film, it is inevitable, and yet wholly unexpected when it finally comes.

    The Wicker Man would be a classic of its genre - if it had a genre. Instead, it has to be ranked as a classic film.
    lokifen

    A Hidden Treasure

    Many people have never seen or heard of this movie. The sad thing is that most young people now wouldn't appreciate its method of madness. The Wicker Man is almost like Psycho in the sense that it plays with the audiences' minds as well as the central character of the film. Its portrayal of the "pagan" religion is very impressive. Not some outrageous Hollywood devil-demon-blood-cult. The Wicker Man is a powerful, disturbing film and is one of the greatest films of the modern era. Christopher Lee is superb as well as Edward Woodward and the beautiful Britt Ekland. This movie is a true classic.
    7xander-2

    Chilling insight into ancient paganistic rituals, slightly chipped

    The bizarre and chilling tale of a fool chosen to be king for a day.

    The shocking denouement of this film has stayed with me for many years, far longer than scenes or images from more famous films. A classic of its kind, it deserves the re-release it will probably never get.

    Superficially a mystery thriller, this intelligent and well researched story delves into the beliefs and rituals of Ancient Britain, its folk mythologies and music, and reveals some of the un-settling fears that lie at their root. Set on a remote Scottish Island and giving the appearance of being a Whisky Galore, Local Hero type community, there is yet something off-centre about the townspeople that Edward Woodward, as Sergeant Howie, has come to investigate. The presence of Christopher Lee as the eloquent, commanding Lord of the Isle, gives the film an insidiously creepy edge suggesting a Hammer Horror lurks around the next wee wall. He is perfect in the role.

    The story un-folds like a cross between Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, as the dogged Howie gets led all over town, up one blind alley and down another. Clues are dropped all the way about what is really going on, but we don't heed them. Until it's too late. Too late to walk away.

    The standard video version runs for 85 minutes, cuts many important scenes and shows others out of sequence. A BBC version shown in 1998 ran around 95 minutes. The full version ran 102 minutes but I have never found it.

    However, whilst uneven in parts and certainly flawed this is one of the most intelligent and interesting stories I have ever seen on film. See it yourself and you too will have many meetings with 'The Wicker Man', in your dreams, in the dark, where you cannot escape.
    8johnnyboyz

    Proof that the British horror genre was once great?

    There is a distinct air of menace flowing throughout The Wicker Man, a distinct feeling of unwelcome and unkind put across in the most brilliant of manners because everyone acts so nicely. Then there is the awful feeling you get at certain points when you realise the character of Sergeant Howie (Woodward) is in actual fact a policeman and what might happen if he hadn't been. The Wicker Man is really a mere exercise in suspense on the surface but I think it toys with other, more political ideas during the core of the film before substituting everything and just focussing very briefly on the religious aspects it raises.

    For Sergeant Howie, he is bordering on the ultimate fish-out-of-water. Howie may be British and may well still be in Britain but that does not exclude him from the fish-out-of-water treatment that other film characters get when they are in that respective situation (see Doyle in 'French Connection II' and Neo in 'The Matrix' among many other examples). Howie is a man of pride; a man with ideas, discipline and rules and regulations he likes to stand by. He is a thorough man and this is partly his downfall since it is this case that is so difficult, it sees him assigned to it. Howie is on a remote Scottish isle investigating a disappearance of a young girl but while remaining within the boundaries of his own world; his own language and even his own country, Howie will find the going difficult and complicated due to several unsuspecting and eerie things.

    Firstly, the location of the island is important because it obviously resembles a sort of detachment from the mainland or indeed the rest of the world. There is special care taken to tell the audience as well as Howie that the mainland is a good week or so away by boat. So within this isolated utopia for the locals develops a sub-culture, a world in which people are people but methods of teaching, governing and religion are very different. This can be read into as some sort of political statement by the writer of the film – perhaps he is bringing to attention the level of policing in Britain for the time? There is no suspicion from Howie at all in the film but I noticed very quickly there was no police station nor was there any feeling that rules were apparent. The whole island was governed by a mysterious, never seen man and look at what situation the island locals were in, in terms of mentality.

    So if this island is a society without law and order; without a stone wall ruling on the most basic humane regulations, is the writer trying to bring to our attention the dangers of lack of authority in our own country? But The Wicker Man is not entirely an ambiguous text revolving around statements on our own world and society. It is a chilling and haunting horror film that predominantly falls into the 'Gothic' typecast due to its minute details on screen. There is a distinct ritualistic tone to the film and it is one that is fetishised. Several years earlier, Christopher Lee himself starred in the highly fetishised 'Dracula'. Here, shots of naked people sitting on grave stones and people having sex in graveyards, maybe to merely gross the 1973 audience out or to just make us aware that this is indeed going to be different, are included and add an ever present layer of disturbance but also one of ambiguity – why is it that people here do these things? To combine sex with a place of death can be linked with the film's overall theme. The man in the scene around the maypole sings a song about evolution and reproduction and generally about a certain circle of life. From here, it is only obvious that the act of reproduction (sex) to produce new life would take place in a location in which you bury the dead. Life goes on, it seems.

    Then there is that extra evidence to suggest this is one of the great Gothic horrors. How may of the cast are actually playing themselves? There are the people in the public house and the elderly folk by the harbour. This gives off its own air of disturbance in the sense they might be playing themselves and what with the commentary on society as a whole, the two seem to bind together all the too nicely. Then there is the attention to faces early on. The chocolates in the baker's window have faces on them and the close up of the pub sign has a face on it. There is also the excessive wearing of masks later on as identity is toyed and revealed but generally kept ambiguous. Is this the future of the society circa 1973? Do we know what we believe in terms of religion? And where we are going in the future? What about the schools and the policing? Will this be the sad reality of a nation gone mad if these things are cut back on? I think these are the sorts of questions the writers are raising by making a film like this and it must've been all the more disturbing in 1973.

    So if The Wicker Man succeeds as a statement then it certainly succeeds as a piece of Gothic horror. It mixes in the uncanny with the surreal and it carries a distinct atmosphere of dread all throughout. There is ambiguity all over the place but I especially liked the attention to the film's music: is it diegetic or not? Sometimes it is and others it isn't but it's such a head-trip of a soundtrack that it's difficult to notice most of the time. This surely one of the better British films ever made.
    drednm

    Beware Shortened Versions

    On an island off the Scottish coast is a very strange community that Sgt Howie (Edward Woodward) ventures to in search of a missing teenaged girl. On landing he is astonished to find that the crowd of old men has never heard of the girl. His quest will be stranger yet.

    The island is "ruled" by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) who is the descendant of a scientist who introduced exotic cultivars of fruits and re-introduced druidic or pagan beliefs. As the island prospered with its exported fruits the paganism became more deep rooted. The Sgt finds more and more mystery as he continues his quest for the girl.

    Pitting Christianity against early pagan druidic rituals is just one of the intellectual pleasures of this cult film. As the local teacher (Diane Cilento) tells the Sgt, it's easier for a child's mind to understand reincarnation than resurrection. It gets them past all those rotting bodies.

    Part mystery story, part horror, The Wicker Man blends several genres into one fascinating film. The May Day Festival is a throwback to pagan rites of a thousand years ago (a bit of which continues today in Morris dancing) and are a highlight of this film. The bizarre procession to the sea to offer sacrifices to the sea gods and sun god is historically accurate and sets up a surprise ending not to be forgotten.

    Woodward is splendid as the pompous officer who clings to his religion. Lee is terrific as the eccentric lord. Cilento is a hoot as the teacher. Britt Ekland is the landlord's daughter Willow and Ingrid Pitt is the librarian. Blending folk and Enya-like music (by Paul Giovanni), director Robin Hardy creates a bawdy pagan world in the midst of the 20th century. The Celtic symbolism (Nuada the Sun God) is beautiful and helps set the tone.

    A visual treat with great music, this film really gives the viewer something to think about. Highly recommended.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sir Christopher Lee said that he considers this to be one of his greatest ever roles.
    • Goofs
      Most of the "naked" girls dancing in the stone circle and jumping over the fire are wearing flesh-colored body stockings. (The film was shot in autumn and not in spring as it was set, and thus was very cold.)
    • Quotes

      Lord Summerisle: Do sit down, Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent.

    • Crazy credits
      [Short Version only] A message from the producers thanks "The Lord Summerisle and the people of his island" for co-operating in the making of the film. This is despite both the lord and the island being totally fictitious.
    • Alternate versions
      A dual DVD set in a burnt wooden box was released in 2001 by Anchor Bay. It has the standard 88 (or 87) minute Theatrical Version. It also has a 99 minute Extended Version. This also has the events in chronological order (unlike the 88 min version). Unlike the 95 minute version it does have footage prior to Sgt. Howie's arrival on Summerisle, including him as a Preacher.
    • Connections
      Featured in Scream Greats, Vol. 2: Satanism and Witchcraft (1986)
    • Soundtracks
      Corn Rigs
      Written by Paul Giovanni

      Performed by Paul Giovanni

      [played over the latter half of the opening credits]

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    FAQ31

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    • What is 'The Wicker Man' about?
    • Is 'The Wicker Man' based on a book?
    • How does Sgt Howie find out that Rowan is missing?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 7, 1974 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Wicker Man. El hombre de mimbre
    • Filming locations
      • Culzean Castle, Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland, UK(Exteriors ofLord Summerisle's island mansion)
    • Production company
      • British Lion Film Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $810,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $148,882
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,493
      • Sep 29, 2013
    • Gross worldwide
      • $551,886
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 28 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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