Note this original COUNTRY OF ORIGIN English film has had a very confusing history. Studio executives did not know how to market the film. An edited version was released in England as part of a double-bill in 1974. After Roger Corman declined to purchase the USA rights, Warner Brothers did so and released the film to drive-in theaters in May 1974, then shelved it till August. In 1977, Abraxas bought the USA rights, restored some of the edited footage and showed the film to theater owners and perhaps, had a single theatrical showing in New Orleans. In 1978, Summerisle Films sub-leased the movie from Abraxas and premiered it at the “Telluride Film Festival” before giving it a limited release in late 1978. Summerisle Films went out of business in 1979 and Dynamite Entertainment and Abraxas gave the film another re-release in 1980.
Directed by: Robin Hardy, Script by: Anthony Shaffer, Music by: Paul Giovanni
Cast: Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, Christopher Lee, Lindsay Kemp, Aubrey Morris, Walter Carr, Ross Campbell, Fred Wood, Robin Hardy
Taglines:
"Anthony Shaffer's incredible occult thriller"
"An island lost to unspeakable terrors of pagan rituals!"
"You'll simply never understand the true nature of sacrifice"
"A totally corrupt shocker from the author of 'Sleuth' and 'Frenzy!"
"An incredible Occult Thriller of Pagan Practices and fertility rights"
"Flesh to touch... Flesh to burn! Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!"
"The 20th Century never touched Summerisle, where pagan fertility rites-and blood sacrifice-live on!"
"The residents of Summerisle invited Sergeant Howie to their traditional May Day festival. He didn't expect to meet... The Wicker Man"
Summary: Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents' frivolous sexual displays and strange pagan rituals, particularly the temptations of Willow (Britt Ekland), daughter of the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). The more Sergeant Howie learns about the islanders' strange practices, the closer he gets to tracking down the missing child. "The Wicker Man" is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Christopher Lee. The screenplay is by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 novel "Ritual", and Paul Giovanni composed the film score.
Idea & Concept Production Trivia: (from Wikipedia) In the early 1970s, Christopher Lee, a Hammer Studio horror regular, best known for his roles in a series of successful films, beginning with "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957). Lee wanted to break free of this image and take on more interesting acting roles. The idea for "The Wicker Man" film began in 1971 when Lee met with screenwriter Anthony Shaffer, and they agreed to work together. Film director Robin Hardy and British Lion head Peter Snell became involved in the project. Shaffer had a series of conversations with Hardy, and the two decided that making a horror film centering on "old religion" would be fun, in sharp contrast to the Hammer films they had both seen as horror film fans. Shaffer read the David Pinner novel "Ritual", in which a devout Christian policeman is called to investigate what appears to be the ritual murder of a young girl in a rural village, and decided that it would serve well as the source material for the project. Pinner had originally written "Ritual as a film treatment for director Michael Winner, who had John Hurt in mind as a possible star. Shaffer and Lee paid Pinner £15,000 (equivalent to £268,000 in 2023) for the rights to the novel, and Shaffer set to work on the screenplay. He soon decided that a direct adaptation would not work well, so drafted a new story based only loosely on the novel. Shaffer wanted the film to be "a little more literate" than the average horror picture. He specifically wanted a film with a minimum of violence and gore. He was tired of seeing horror films that relied almost entirely on viscera to be scary. The focus of the film was crystallized when he "finally hit upon the abstract concept of sacrifice." The image of the wicker man, which gave the filmmakers their title, was taken from the description of the practice of human sacrifice by the Gauls in Julius Caesar's "Commentaries on the Gallic War". "...figures of vast size, ... filled with living men, being set on fire, the men perish enveloped in flames." For Shaffer, this was "the most alarming and imposing image that I had ever seen." The idea of a confrontation between a modern Christian and a remote, pagan community continued to intrigue Shaffer, who performed painstaking research on paganism. Brainstorming with Hardy, they conceived the film as presenting the pagan elements objectively and accurately, accompanied by authentic music and a believable, contemporary setting. One of their main resources was "The Golden Bough", a study of mythology and religion written by Scottish anthropologist James Frazer. The film was produced at a time of crisis for the British film industry. The studio in charge of production, "British Lion Films", was in financial trouble and was bought by wealthy businessman John Bentley. To convince the unions that he was not about to asset strip the company, Bentley needed to get a film into production quickly. This meant that although "The Wicker Man" was set in spring, filming actually began in October 1972; artificial leaves and blossoms had to be glued to trees in many scenes. The production was kept on a small budget. Christopher Lee was extremely keen to get the film made; he and others worked on the production without pay. While filming took place, British Lion was bought by "EMI Films". The score was arranged, recorded and part composed by Paul Giovanni. Director Robin Hardy surprised the cast by suddenly announcing midway through filming that they were making a "musical". The soundtrack contains 13 folk songs performed by characters in the film. Included are traditional songs, original compositions by Giovanni, and even a nursery rhyme, "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". The songs on the soundtrack were composed or arranged by Giovanni under the direction of Hardy and Shaffer, whose research into the oral folk tradition in England and Scotland was based largely on the work of Cecil Sharp, a "founding father" of the folk-revival movement of the early 20th century. "The Wicker Man"(1973) is well regarded by critics. Film magazine "Cinefantastique" described it as "The Citizen Kane of horror movies", and in 2004, "Total Film" magazine named "The Wicker Man" (1973) the sixth-greatest British film of all time. It also won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. The final scene was number 45 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments, and during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, it was included as part of a sequence that celebrated British cinema. The first screening of the film was to trade and cinema distributors on 3 December 1973. The first public theatrical release was a week of test screenings at the Metropole Cinema London on 6 December 1973 ahead of the official public release in January 1974.
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