| The Wicker Man | |
|---|---|
_UK_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robin Hardy |
| Screenplay by | Anthony Shaffer |
| Produced by | Peter Snell |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Harry Waxman |
| Edited by | Eric Boyd-Perkins |
| Music by | Paul Giovanni |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes[2] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £471,600[3]–500,000[4] |
| Box office | $475,661[5] |
The Wicker Man is a 1973 Britishfolk horror film directed byRobin Hardy and starringEdward Woodward,Britt Ekland,Diane Cilento,Ingrid Pitt andChristopher Lee. The screenplay is byAnthony Shaffer, inspired byDavid Pinner's 1967 novelRitual, andPaul Giovanni composed the film score.[6][7]
The plot centres on the visit of a police officer, Sergeant Neil Howie, to the fictional, isolatedScottish island of Summerisle in search of a missing girl. Howie, a devout Christian, is appalled to find that the inhabitants of the island have abandonedChristianity and now practise a form ofCeltic paganism.[8]
The Wicker Man is well regarded by critics. Film magazineCinefantastique described it as "TheCitizen Kane of horror movies", and in 2004,Total Film magazine namedThe Wicker Man the sixth-greatest British film of all time. It also won the 1978Saturn Award forBest Horror Film. The final scene was number 45 onBravo's100 Scariest Movie Moments, and during the2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, it was included as part of a sequence that celebrated British cinema. The film brought thewicker man into modernpopular culture.[9]
In 1989, Shaffer wrote ascript treatment forThe Loathsome Lambton Worm, a directsequel with fantasy elements. Hardy had no interest in the project, and it went unproduced. In 2006, a poorly receivedAmerican remake starringNicolas Cage was released, from which Hardy and others involved with the original have dissociated themselves.[10] In 2011, aspiritual sequel written and directed by Hardy,The Wicker Tree, was released; it featured Lee in a cameo appearance. In 2013, the original U.S. theatrical version ofThe Wicker Man was digitally restored and released.
On 29 April, Sergeant Neil Howie of the West Highlands Constabulary journeys byseaplane to the remote, verdantHebridean island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, about whom he has received an anonymous letter. Howie, a devoutChristian, is disturbed to find the islanders paying homage to thepaganCeltic gods of their ancestors, with churches having fallen into disuse. They copulate openly in the fields, include children as part of theMay Day celebrations, teach children of the phallic association of themaypole, and one places a toad in a child's mouth to cure a sore throat. The islanders appear to be trying to thwart his investigation by claiming that Rowan never existed.
While Howie is staying at theGreen Man Inn, the landlord's daughter attempts to seduce him, but he resists, explaining that he is engaged and must reserve sex for marriage. He notices a series of photographs celebrating the annual harvest, each featuring a young girl as theMay Queen. The photograph of the most recent celebration is missing and the landlord tells him it was broken. At the local school, Howie asks the students about Rowan, but all deny her existence. He checks the school register and finds Rowan's name. He questions the schoolteacher, who directs him to Rowan's grave.
The next day, 30 April, Howie meets the island's leader, Lord Summerisle, grandson of aVictorianagronomist, to get permission to exhume Rowan's body. Summerisle explains that in 1868, his grandfather developed strains of fruit trees that would prosper inScotland's climate and encouraged the belief that returning to the old gods would bring prosperity to the island among the previously Christian population. Due to the bountiful harvests, the island's other inhabitants gradually embracedpaganism, and the Christian ministers fled to the mainland.
Exhuming Rowan's grave, Howie finds that the coffin contains only the body of a hare. He also finds the missing harvest photograph, showing Rowan standing amidst empty boxes; the harvest had failed for the first time since the orchards were established. His research reveals that a human sacrifice is offered to the gods in the event of crop failure. He concludes that Rowan is alive and will soon be sacrificed to ensure a successful harvest this season.
The following morning, on May Day, Howie seeks assistance from the mainland and returns to his seaplane, only to discover it no longer functions and its radio is damaged; he cannot leave or call for help. Later that day, during the May Day celebration, Howie subdues the innkeeper and steals his costume and mask ofPunch (the Fool) to infiltrate the parade. Rowan is eventually revealed. Howie sets her free and flees with her into a cave. Exiting it, they are intercepted by the islanders, to whom Rowan happily returns.
Summerisle tells Howie that Rowan was never the intended sacrifice - Howie is. He fits their gods' four requirements: he came of his own free will, he has "the power of a king" by representing the law, he is a virgin, and he is a "fool" by falling for their deception. Howie warns Summerisle and the islanders that the crops are failing due to the unsuitability of the climate, and that the villagers will turn on Summerisle and sacrifice him next summer when the harvest fails again, but his pleas are ignored.
The villagers force Howie inside a giantwicker man statue along with various animals, set it ablaze, and surround it, singing theMiddle English folk song "Sumer Is Icumen In". Inside the wicker man, Howie recitesPsalm 23 and prays to God. Howie and the animals burn to death as the head of the wicker man collapses in flames, revealing the setting sun.
_US_trailer_-_Christopher_Lee_1.png)
In the early 1970s, Christopher Lee was aHammer Horror regular, best known for his roles in a series of successful films, beginning withThe Curse of Frankenstein (asthe monster, 1957). Lee wanted to break free of this image and take on more interesting acting roles. The idea forThe Wicker Man film began in 1971 when Lee met with screenwriterAnthony Shaffer, and they agreed to work together.[12] Film directorRobin Hardy andBritish Lion headPeter Snell became involved in the project. Shaffer had a series of conversations with Hardy, and the two decided that making a horror film centring on "old religion" would be fun, in sharp contrast to the Hammer films they had both seen as horror film fans.[13]
Shaffer read theDavid Pinner novelRitual, in which a devout Christian policeman is called to investigate what appears to be theritual 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 writtenRitual as a film treatment for directorMichael Winner, who hadJohn Hurt in mind as a possible star.[14] Winner eventually declined the project, so Pinner's agent persuaded him to writeRitual as a novel instead.[15] 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 story of the novel.[16]
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 crystallised 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 inJulius Caesar'sCommentaries on the Gallic War: "Others have figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed of osiers they fill with living men, which being set on fire, the men perish enveloped in the flames."[17] For Shaffer, this was "the most alarming and imposing image that I had ever seen."[18] 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.[19] One of their main resources wasThe Golden Bough, a study of mythology and religion written by Scottish anthropologistJames Frazer.[20][21]
Television actor Edward Woodward was cast in the role of Sergeant Neil Howie after the part was declined by bothMichael York andDavid Hemmings.[22] In Britain, Woodward was best known for the role ofCallan, which he played from 1967 to 1972. AfterThe Wicker Man, Woodward went on to receive international attention for his roles in the 1980 filmBreaker Morant and the 1980s TV seriesThe Equalizer.
After Shaffer saw her on the stage, he luredDiane Cilento out of semi-retirement to play the town's schoolmistress.[22] (They lived together in Queensland from 1975, and married in 1985).Ingrid Pitt, another British horror film veteran, was cast as the town librarian and registrar. Swedish actress Britt Ekland was cast as the innkeeper's lascivious daughter, although two body doubles were used for her naked scenes below the waist. Ekland found out that she was three months pregnant with her son Nic, toLou Adler, two weeks into filming. Stuart Hopps (the film's choreographer) called upon Lorraine Peters, a nightclub dancer from Glasgow, who gyrated at the doorway[23] and against the wall of a bedroom in the fully nude "wall" scenes. Ekland's speaking and singing voices were dubbed byAnnie Ross and Rachel Verney respectively.[24][25][23]
Local girl Jane Jackson was employed as Ekland's stand-in for camera setups. Jackson was blonde-haired and bore a resemblance to Ekland but was otherwise not involved in any filming.[26]
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 toasset strip the company, Bentley needed to get a film into production quickly. This meant that althoughThe 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.[22] Christopher Lee was extremely keen to get the film made; he and others worked on the production without pay.[27] While filming took place, British Lion was bought byEMI Films.
The film was shot almost entirely in the small Scottish towns ofStranraer,Gatehouse of Fleet,Newton Stewart,Kirkcudbright,Anwoth andCreetown inGalloway, as well asPlockton inRoss-shire.[28] Some scenes were filmed in and around theIsle of Whithorn, where the owners of the castle, Elizabeth McAdam McLaughland and David Wheatley, plus several other local people, featured in various scenes.[29]Culzean Castle inAyrshire and its grounds andFloors Castle inRoxburghshire were also used for the shooting. Some of the opening flying shots feature theIsle of Skye, including the pinnacles ofThe Storr and theQuiraing. The interior cave scenes were filmed insideWookey Hole in Somerset. Hush Heath Estate inStaplehurst,Kent, makes a brief appearance in the film, doubling as Lord Summerisle's orchard and gardens.[30] The climax of the film was shot atSt Ninian's Cave and on the clifftops atBurrow Head inWigtownshire.
The amphibious aircraft that carries Sergeant Howie was aThurston Teal, owned and flown in the aerial sequences by Christopher Murphy.
According to Britt Ekland, some animals perished inThe Wicker Man,[31][better source needed] whereas Robin Hardy said in an interview that great care was taken to ensure that the animals were in no danger of being hurt during this scene, and that they were not inside the wicker man when it was set on fire.[32]
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The score was arranged, recorded and part composed byPaul Giovanni.[33] According to Seamus Flannery in a subsequent documentary, director Robin Hardy surprised the cast by suddenly announcing midway through filming that they were making a "musical";[34] performed byMagnet (in some versions of the film credited as "Lodestone"), 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".
"Willow's Song" has been covered or sampled by various rock music bands. It was first covered by an English musical project known asNature and Organisation on their 1994 releaseBeauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude. It was covered bySneaker Pimps as "How Do", and is included on their 1996 releaseBecoming X. "How Do" can be heard in the movieHostel (2005); credited in the end titles as being composed by Sneaker Pimps. Additionally, the band has covered "Gently Johnny" as "Johnny"; it is featured as a B-side on their single "Roll On" (1996). It also was covered byFaith and the Muse on their 2003 albumThe Burning Season, andThe Mock Turtles on their albumTurtle Soup.
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 ofCecil Sharp, a "founding father" of the folk-revival movement of the early 20th century. Using Sharp's collections as a template, Shaffer noted to Giovanni which scenes were to have music, and in some cases provided lyrics, which would be appropriate to spring pagan festivals.[35] Other songs on the soundtrack come from a later folk tradition; for example, "Corn Riggs", by Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns, accompanies Howie's arrival on Summerisle. The lyrics of this song were taken directly from the Burns song "The Rigs of Barley", but Giovanni used a very different tune. Burns' tune was based on "Corn Riggs",[36][37][38] and altered to match his lyrics.[39][40] The song sung by the cultists of Summerisle at the end of the film, "Sumer Is Icumen In", is a mid-13th-century song about nature in spring.
The film also gave its name to theWickerman Festival, an annual music festival held nearAuchencairn in Galloway. Dubbed "Scotland's Alternative Music festival", it began in 2001 when the festival's artistic director Sid Ambrose hit upon the idea of a local counterculture-based family-friendly festival due to the surrounding area being inextricably linked with various locations used withinThe Wicker Man. It was held annually until 2015 at East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dundrennan.[41]
By the time of the film's completion, the studio had been bought by EMI, and British Lion was managed byMichael Deeley. The DVD commentary track states that studio executives suggested a more "upbeat" ending to the film, in which a sudden rain puts the flames of the wicker man out and spares Howie's life, but this suggestion was refused. Hardy subsequently had to remove about 20 minutes of scenes[8] on the mainland, early investigations, and (to Lee's disappointment) some of Lord Summerisle's initial meeting with Howie.[42]
The first screening of the film was to trade and cinema distributors on 3 December 1973.[1] 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.[1] It runs 87 minutes.
A copy of a finished, 99-minute version[43] was sent to Americanfilm producerRoger Corman inHollywood to make a judgment of how to market the film in the U.S. Corman recommended an additional 13 minutes be cut from the film. Corman did not acquire U.S. release rights, and eventuallyWarner Bros. test-marketed the film in drive-ins. It screened in the greaterAtlanta area in May 1974.[44]
In Britain, the film was cut to roughly 87 minutes, with some narrative restructuring, and released as the"B" picture on a double bill withDon't Look Now. According to Lee, the cuts adversely affected the film'scontinuity.
During the mid-1970s, Hardy made inquiries about the film, hoping to restore it to his original vision. Along with Lee and Shaffer, Hardy searched for his original cut, or raw footage. Both of these appeared to have been lost. DirectorAlex Cox said in hisMoviedrome introduction in 1988 that the negative had "ended up in the pylons that support theM4 motorway."[45] Hardy recalled that a copy of the film made prior to Deeley's cuts was sent to Roger Corman, who, it turned out, still had it, possibly the only existing print of Hardy's original cut. The US rights had been sold by Warner Bros. to a small firm called Abraxas, managed by film buff Stirling Smith and critic John Alan Simon. Stirling agreed to an American release of a reconstruction by Hardy. Hardy restored the narrative structure, some of the erotic elements which had been excised, and a very brief pretitle segment of Howie on the mainland (appearing at a church with his fiancée). A 96-minute restored version was released in January 1979,[22] again to critical acclaim.
The original 99-minute version was available in the US on VHS home video from Media Home Entertainment (and later Magnum) during the 1980s and 1990s.[46] This video includes additional early scenes set inside Howie's police station, which Hardy had left out of the 1979 restoration. In 2001, a remaster of the 88-minute cut was released on VHS, labelled as the "Theatrical Version".
In 2001, the film's new world rights owners,Canal+, tried to release the full-length film. Corman's copy had been lost, but atelecine transfer to 1-inch videotape existed. Missing elements were combined with film elements from the previous versions (in particular, additional scenes of Howie on the mainland were restored, showing him to be the object of gossip at his police station, establishing his devout religiosity). The extended DVD cut was released by Canal+ (Anchor Bay Entertainment handling US DVD distribution) in this 99-minute hybrid, considered the longest and closest version to Hardy's original 100-odd minute version.[22] A two-disc limited edition set was sold with the shortened theatrical release, the new extended version and a documentary,The Wicker Man Enigma.[47] In 2005,Inside the Wicker Man author Allan Brown revealed he had discovered stills taken on the set showing sequences from the script that had never been seen; it had never been certain that the scenes had been filmed. They include scenes where Howie closes a mainland pub open after hours, encounters a prostitute, has a massage from Willow McGregor, and sees a brutal confrontation between Oak and a villager in The Green Man, which were featured in a revised edition ofInside the Wicker Man. Anchor Bay released a limited-edition wooden box ofThe Wicker Man. About 50,000 two-disc sets were made, of which 20 were signed by Lee and Woodward, Shaffer, Snell, and Hardy. In March 2002, Lee discussed the lost original cut, "I still believe it exists somewhere, incans with no name. I still believe that. But nobody's ever seen it since, so we couldn't re-cut it, re-edit it, which was what I wanted to do. It would have been ten times as good".[48]
European distributors of the film StudioCanal began aFacebook campaign in 2013 to find missing material, which culminated in the discovery of a 92-minute 35 mm print at theHarvard Film Archive. This print had previously been known as the "Middle Version" and was itself assembled from a 35 mm print of the original edit Robin Hardy had made in the United Kingdom in 1973, but which was never released.[49] Robin Hardy believed that the original edit will probably never be found, saying, "Sadly, it seems as though this has been lost forever. However, I am delighted that a 1979 Abraxas print has been found as I also put together this cut myself, and it crucially restores the story order to that which I had originally intended."[49]
Hardy reported in July 2013[50] that Studiocanal intended to restore and release the most complete version possible of the film. Rialto Pictures announced that it was to release the new digital restoration in North American cinemas on 27 September 2013.[51] This new version was also released on DVD on 13 October 2013.[52] It is 91 minutes long, shorter than the director's cut but longer than the theatrical cut, and is known asThe Wicker Man: The Final Cut.[52]
The Final Cut (UK) Blu-ray[53] (2013) features short documentaries "Burnt Offering: The Cult of the Wicker Man", "Worshipping the Wicker Man", "The Music of the Wicker Man", interviews with director Robin Hardy and actor Christopher Lee, a restoration comparison, and the theatrical trailer. The second disc features both the UK 87-minute theatrical cut and the 95-minute 2013 director's cut, along with anaudio commentary on the director's cut and a making-of for the commentary. The third disc isthe soundtrack to the film.
In 2023, for the 50th anniversary of the film's release, StudioCanal announced4K resolution restoration of existing footage, and remastering of the existing three cuts for a "4K Ultra HD Collector's Edition" release on 25 September 2023.
On 21 June, the 4K restoration Final Cut was screened in cinemas across the UK along with a Q&A filmed in London, hosted byEdith Bowman with guests including Britt Ekland, and Robin Hardy's sons Julian and Dominic promoting theirWickermania! documentary.[54]
On 24 June, theBarbican Centre held "Musics from Summerisle", a live performance celebration of the anniversary.[55]
David McGillivray ofThe Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film as "an immensely enjoyable piece of hokum, thoroughly well researched, performed and directed."[56]Variety wrote that Anthony Shaffer's screenplay "for sheer imagination and near-terror, has seldom been equalled."[57]Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Times called it "a witty work of the macabre" with "the splendid performances typical of British films."[58]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times was more negative, calling it "handsomely photographed" with "good performances," but "something of a howl" even though "it seems to have been made in all seriousness."[59]
The Wicker Man initially had moderate success and won the Golden Licorn for Best Film at the 1974Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film,[60] but largely slipped into obscurity. In 1977, the American film magazineCinefantastique devoted a commemorative issue to the film,[61] asserting that the film is "theCitizen Kane of horror movies" — an oft-quoted phrase attributed to this issue.[62][63]
Decades after its release, the film still receives positive reviews from critics and is considered one of the best films of1973.[64][65] At the filmreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,The Wicker Man holds a 90% "Fresh" rating based on 61 reviews, with aweighted average score of 8/10 and the site's consensus: "This intelligent horror film is subtle in its thrills and chills, with an ending that is both shocking and truly memorable".[66] In 2008,The Wicker Man was ranked byEmpire at No. 485 ofThe 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[67] Christopher Lee consideredThe Wicker Man his best film.[11] Similarly, Edward Woodward said thatThe Wicker Man was one of his favourite films and that the character of Howie was the best part he ever played. In addition to Lee's admiration of the final shot of the film (of the collapsing wicker man), Woodward said that it is the best final shot of any film ever made.[68] In 2010The Guardian newspaper ranked it as No 4 in its "25 best horror films of all time" listings.[8]
In his 2010 BBC documentary seriesA History of Horror, writer and actorMark Gatiss referred to the film as a prime example of a short-lived subgenre he called "folk horror", grouping it with 1968'sWitchfinder General and 1971'sThe Blood on Satan's Claw.[69][70] In 2003, the Crichton Campus of theUniversity of Glasgow inDumfries hosted a three-day conference onThe Wicker Man, which resulted in the publication of two collections of papers about the film.[71][72] In 2004,The Wicker Man ranked No, 45 onBravo's100 Scariest Movie Moments.[73]
| Year | Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 3rd Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film | Golden Licorn (Best Film) | The Wicker Man | Won[60] |
The film brought thewicker man into modernpopular culture.[9] In recent times, a wicker man has been burnt at festivals such asBurning Man in the United States,[9] and the formerWickerman Festival in Scotland.
In 1998, Swedish black metal bandMarduk used a line from this film on the introduction to the track "Slay the Nazarene" from the albumNightwing.
In 2000, English heavy metal bandIron Maiden released a single called "The Wicker Man" in tribute to the film.
In 2016, English bandRadiohead released the music video for the song "Burn the Witch", made in stop-motion animation and whose storyline greatly resembles that ofThe Wicker Man.[74][75][76]
In 2001, English bandPulp released "Wickerman" on theirWe Love Life album, which features a sample of Willow's Song.
The White, a 2008EP by Americanextreme metal bandAgalloch, included three tracks featuring samples of dialogue from the film: "The Isle of Summer", "Summerisle Reprise", and "Sowilo Rune".[77]
In the filmShallow Grave, Ewan McGregor's character is shown watching the final scene, representing the building sense of doom the character is experiencing.
The creators ofThe League of Gentlemen television series often reference the film in their work, particularly in theInside No. 9 episode "Mr King".
ForRecord Store Day 2024 'Katy J Pearson & Friends' released a 9 track EPThe Wicker Man with covers of songs from the film. The EP, on Heavenly Recordings, (HVN72412)[78] features collaborations with Broadside Hacks, Drug Store Romeos, Sarah Meth, Orbury Common, Evie Hilyer-Zietler, Bert Ussher, H.Hawkline plus special guests as well as remixes by Richard Norris and Stone Club.[79]
A yearly Wicker Man festival is held in Fishtoft, Lincolnshire, featuring live music from Ian Cutler, who featured in the original film as the fiddle player.
Anovelisation, which expands on the story andbears the same title, was released in 1978. It was written by Hardy and Shaffer.
In 1989, Shaffer wrote a 30-page filmscript treatment entitledThe Loathsome Lambton Worm, a direct sequel toThe Wicker Man, for producer Lance Reynolds.[80] It would have been morefantastical in subject matter than the original film, and relied more heavily onspecial effects. In this continuation of the story, which begins immediately after the ending of the first film, Sergeant Neil Howie is rescued from the burning Wicker Man by a group of police officers from the mainland. Howie sets out to bring Lord Summerisle and his pagan followers to justice,[81] but becomes embroiled in a series of challenges which pit the old gods against his own Christian faith. The script culminates in a climactic battle between Howie and a fire-breathingdragon – the titularLambton Worm – and ends with a suicidal Howie plunging to his death from a cliff while tied to two largeeagles.[82] Shaffer's sequel was never produced, but his treatment, complete with illustrations, was eventually published in the companion bookInside The Wicker Man.[83]
Hardy was not asked to direct the sequel, and never read the script, as he did not like the idea of Howie surviving the sacrifice, or the fact that the actors would have aged by 20 to 30 years between the two films.[84] In May 2010, Hardy discussedThe Loathsome Lambton Worm. "I know Tony did write that, but I don't think anyone particularly liked it, or it would have been made."[85]
Afan-made full-castaudio drama adaptation of Shaffer'sThe Loathsome Lambton Worm treatment was eventually released in 2020.[86][87]
AnAmericanremakeof the same name, starringNicolas Cage andEllen Burstyn, and directed byNeil LaBute, was released in 2006.[88] Hardy expressed concern about the remake.[89]
A stage adaptation was announced for the 2009Edinburgh Festival Fringe,[90] and was directed by Andrew Steggall. The production was based jointly upon Anthony Shaffer's originalThe Wicker Man script and David Pinner's novelRitual. Robin Hardy gave input on the project, and original songs and music from the film were supervised byGary Carpenter, the original music director.[91][92] Workshop rehearsals were held atThe Drill Hall in London in March 2008,[93] and a casting call was held in Glasgow in May 2009.[citation needed] After three weeks at thePleasance in Edinburgh in August 2009, the production was to visit thePerth Rep,Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, and then have a short run atCitizen's Theatre in Glasgow, with hopes for a run in London in 2010.[94] However, in July 2009 it was announced that the production had been cancelled, three weeks before it had been due to preview.[95]
In 2011, theNational Theatre of Scotland producedAn Appointment with the Wicker Man written byGreg Hemphill and Donald McCleary. The production has an amateur theatre company attempting to stage aWicker Man musical.[96]
In 2011, aspiritual successor entitledThe Wicker Tree was released. It was directed by Hardy and featured an appearance by Lee. Hardy first published the story as a novel, under the nameCowboys for Christ. First announced in April 2000, filming on the project began on 19 July 2009 according to IMDb. It follows two young American Christianevangelists who travel to Scotland; like Woodward's character inThe Wicker Man, the two Americans are virgins who encounter a paganlaird and his followers.[97] The film received mixed reviews.
Those involved in the production of the film have given conflicting statements regarding the identity of Christopher Lee's character, referred to only as Old Gentleman in the credits. Writer/director Robin Hardy said that the ambiguity was intentional. Fans would immediately recognise Lee's character as Lord Summerisle.[98] Lee himself has contradicted this, stating that the two are not meant to be the same character, and thatThe Wicker Tree is not a sequel in any way.[99]
A radio adaptation by Anthony D. P. Mann was produced by Bleak December Inc. in an arrangement withStudioCanal and broadcast onBBC Radio 4 Extra on 2 December 2023[100] as part of a "Wicker Man"-themed evening of programmes.[101] The cast included Mann as Sergeant Howie,Brian Blessed as Lord Summerisle,Laurence R. Harvey as MacGregor, Anne-Marie Bergman as Miss Rose, Melissa Radford as Willow and Mei Kiera as Rowan Morrison/Heather.
As a former artist, Hardy expressed great interest in the medium ofcomics, and planned a comic book which would retell the story ofThe Wicker Man, based on his own storyboards for the film. Hardy was in talks with yet unnamed artists to work on the project, as he found it too difficult to make the characters look consistent from one panel to the next. Hardy was working on his next film,The Wrath of the Gods, at the time of his death on 1 July 2016.[81][102] He intended the graphic novel and the new film to be released at the same time in autumn 2013; however as of autumn 2014 neither had been released, and the film never started production.[103]
In 2023, two of Robin Hardy's sons, Justin and Dominic, announced that they had created a documentary aboutThe Wicker Man, calledWickermania!. They had already received permission and a discount from Canal+ to use existing film footage, and had a number of original documents related to the production. They were seeking to fund the release of the documentary, subsequently renamedChildren of the Wicker Man, viaKickstarter.[104][105]
On 24 October 2023, a new behind-the-scenes bookThe Wicker Man: The Official Story of the Film was published byTitan Books and written byJohn Walsh, containing new interviews, photos and others materials from the film. It was licensed by the film's rights holderStudioCanal.[106]
British performersDavid Bramwell and Eliza Skelton host a travelling show entitledSing-along-a-Wickerman, which includes manyWicker Man-themed activities culminating in asing-along screening of the film. The show has been going since at least 2011, and has received positive reviews from news outlets such asThe Guardian andTime Out.[107] Director of the film Robin Hardy has attended and has been a part of several shows, calling it "terrific fun."[108]
Although the company agreed to take the film on, the producers were under instruction to keep to a tight budget of the film under £500,000, small even by early 1970s standards.
Others have figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed of osiers they fill with living men, which being set on fire, the men perish enveloped in the flames.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Well, it is very ambiguous. We don't really know who he is. He's an antecedent, of some kind, of Lachlan's. Lachlan remembers him, when he was a boy. There's a boy painting a bridge, and it may have been Lachlan as a young person. He's remembering this grandfather figure, or this great-grandfather figure – whatever – who the people who are fans ofThe Wicker Man and the wicker[inaudible], if you like, will of course immediately recognise as Summerisle. But we don't give him a name or anything. I think in the credits he's just called the old man.
The first one that I can think of isThe Wicker Tree, in which I make a very brief appearance. I must emphasise this isnot a sequel toThe Wicker Man. In no way. And I donot play an older Summerisle, or his son, or whatever.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
