The Wicker Man (1973 movie)

The Wicker Man is a cult 1973 British horror movie, made and set in Scotland. The movie was directed by Robin Hardy and written by Anthony Shaffer. It stars Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Britt Ekland. Paul Giovanni composed the soundtrack.

A police sergeant, Neil Howie goes to a remote island in the Hebrides to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan. He finds out that the island is run by a pagan cult who are hostile of outsiders, including him. They practice human sacrifice. He believes that Rowan will be used as their human sacrifice. The islanders force Neil into a wicker man and burn him to death.

The Wicker Man is generally very highly regarded by critics. Movie magazine Cinefantastique described it as "The Citizen Kane of Horror Movies", and in 2004 the magazine Total Movie named The Wicker Man the sixth greatest British movie of all time. It also won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror movie. A scene from this movie was #45 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

The 2006 remake of this movie stars Nicolas Cage.

References
 Brown, Allan, Inside The Wicker Man: The Morbid Ingenuities, London: Macmillan, 2000. .
 Catterall, Ali & Wells, Simon, Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since The Sixties, Fourth Estate, 2001. 

Other websites

 wicker-man.com  An extensive fansite devoted to the movie


 Interview: Director Robin Hardy talks about the film to Fortean Times 
 Interview with director Robin Hardy about The Wicker Man and Cowboys For Christ in MungBeing

Category:1973 horror movies
Category:1973 mystery movies
Category:British horror movies

Category:Cult movies
Category:Movies about cults
Category:Movies about human sacrifice
Category:Movies about murderers
Category:Movies about police officers
Category:Movies set in Scotland
Category:Movies set on islands