A ¨must see¨ picture , essential and indispensable to see ; it has plenty of intrigue and horror , though there is also ample suspense , thriller and nudism . British classic about a Scotland Yard police sergeant called Howie (Edward Woodward) is sent to a Scottish island village , Summerisle , in search of a missing girl whom the townsfolk claim never existed . The Scot police previously received an anonymous letter that implies the lost girl has been killed . There , the cop meets some rare denizens , (Diane Cilento , Britt Ekland , Lindsay Kemp , Aubrey Morris , among others) practice rare pagan rituals and pre-Celtics customs and all of them ruled by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee who agreed to appear for free) , the aristocrat ruler and religious leader of the strange society that cultivates apples and other agriculture products . Lord Summerisle , at the beginning seems to take it all as a joke , but he subsequently discovers his real intentions . Stranger still are the weird events that ulteriorly take place there . Then , Howie swears to find out the truth .
This extraordinary and harrowing film from Robin Hardy -considered to be one of the finest horror ever made- contains suspense , mystery , occult terror with gratuitous eroticism and spectacular outdoors shot in Scotland . This is one of the most unusual British films and is set in a Scottish offshore island with a community practicing bizarre pagan sexual rites . Very persuasively and intelligent script written by playwright Anthony Shaffer , author of 'Sleuth' . The flick was inspired by an engraving called "The Wicker Image" in Britannia Antiqua Illustrata (1676) , some people have doubted the historical existence of the Wicker Man suggesting that it came from Roman propaganda by people such as Julius Caesar ; there is , however, undeniable evidence that the Druids and the Celts practiced human sacrifice . As ¨The Wicker Man¨ legend , however, is firmly tied in with Druidism . Nice acting by all cast , although the film is set in Scottish territory and all the characters are meant to be of Scottish nationality, all five of of the leading cast are not Scottish : Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward are English, Diane Cilento is Australian, Ingrid Pitt is Polish and Britt Ekland is Swedish . The movie was intended as a vehicle for Christopher Lee ; Lee himself has said that he considers this to be one of his greatest ever roles . The film displays a very good and colorful cinematography by Harry Waxman . The lyrics for the popular song 'Corn Rigs Are Bonnie' was actually written by Robert Burns in 1775 ; the music was written especially for the film musical score by Paul Giovanni . The final song, sung by the islanders around the sacrifice, is a thirteenth century 'reverdie' song celebrating the return of Spring . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Robin Hardy , being filmed in 1972 in Galloway in South West Scotland . Shown only in truncated copies for many years , for that reason to beware the lousy versions which may still be in circulation .
This absorbing as well as exciting movie was followed by an inferior remake panned by critics and lukewarm by the world public . This new version by Neal LaBute with unsettling acting Nicolas Cage along with Molly Parker , Leelee Sobiesky , Diane Delano , being located in state of Washington . It differs on the original in various issues , as previous adaptation was in a Scotland island , the latter in State of Washington with a matriarchal society and without sexual situations , starred by a depressed patrolman (Nicolas Cage , character of Edward Woodward) affected by a car accident when receives a letter from ex-girlfriend (Kate Beaham) asking help for her disappeared daughter , he then goes to a strange matriarchal community , an Amish-alike, (ruled by Ellen Burstyn , Christopher Lee role) . Besides , first version the community cultivated apples , while in its remake are bees with drones represented by men and a Bee Queen well incarnated by Ellen Burstyn .
This extraordinary and harrowing film from Robin Hardy -considered to be one of the finest horror ever made- contains suspense , mystery , occult terror with gratuitous eroticism and spectacular outdoors shot in Scotland . This is one of the most unusual British films and is set in a Scottish offshore island with a community practicing bizarre pagan sexual rites . Very persuasively and intelligent script written by playwright Anthony Shaffer , author of 'Sleuth' . The flick was inspired by an engraving called "The Wicker Image" in Britannia Antiqua Illustrata (1676) , some people have doubted the historical existence of the Wicker Man suggesting that it came from Roman propaganda by people such as Julius Caesar ; there is , however, undeniable evidence that the Druids and the Celts practiced human sacrifice . As ¨The Wicker Man¨ legend , however, is firmly tied in with Druidism . Nice acting by all cast , although the film is set in Scottish territory and all the characters are meant to be of Scottish nationality, all five of of the leading cast are not Scottish : Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward are English, Diane Cilento is Australian, Ingrid Pitt is Polish and Britt Ekland is Swedish . The movie was intended as a vehicle for Christopher Lee ; Lee himself has said that he considers this to be one of his greatest ever roles . The film displays a very good and colorful cinematography by Harry Waxman . The lyrics for the popular song 'Corn Rigs Are Bonnie' was actually written by Robert Burns in 1775 ; the music was written especially for the film musical score by Paul Giovanni . The final song, sung by the islanders around the sacrifice, is a thirteenth century 'reverdie' song celebrating the return of Spring . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Robin Hardy , being filmed in 1972 in Galloway in South West Scotland . Shown only in truncated copies for many years , for that reason to beware the lousy versions which may still be in circulation .
This absorbing as well as exciting movie was followed by an inferior remake panned by critics and lukewarm by the world public . This new version by Neal LaBute with unsettling acting Nicolas Cage along with Molly Parker , Leelee Sobiesky , Diane Delano , being located in state of Washington . It differs on the original in various issues , as previous adaptation was in a Scotland island , the latter in State of Washington with a matriarchal society and without sexual situations , starred by a depressed patrolman (Nicolas Cage , character of Edward Woodward) affected by a car accident when receives a letter from ex-girlfriend (Kate Beaham) asking help for her disappeared daughter , he then goes to a strange matriarchal community , an Amish-alike, (ruled by Ellen Burstyn , Christopher Lee role) . Besides , first version the community cultivated apples , while in its remake are bees with drones represented by men and a Bee Queen well incarnated by Ellen Burstyn .