Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. Stranger still, however, are the rituals that take place there.
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Sergeant Neil Howie: Edward Woodward
- Lord Summerisle: Christopher Lee
- Willow MacGreagor: Britt Ekland
- Librarian: Ingrid Pitt
- Miss Rose: Diane Cilento
- Alder MacGreagor: Lindsay Kemp
- Old Gardener / Gravedigger: Aubrey Morris
- Harbour Master (uncredited): Russell Waters
- May Morrison: Irene Sunters
- Broome: Roy Boyd
- Oak: Ian Campbell
- School Master (uncredited): Walter Carr
- McTaggert: John Hallam
- Woman with Baby (uncredited): Barbara Rafferty
- Postman (uncredited): Tony Roper
- Doctor Ewan (uncredited): John Sharp
- T.H. Lennox: Donald Eccles
- Minister (uncredited): Robin Hardy
- Rowan Morrison: Gerry Cowper
- Myrtle Morrison: Jennifer Martin
- Ash Buchanan: Richard Wren
- Holly: Fiona Kennedy
- Daisy: Lesley Mackie
- Mrs Grimmond: Myra Forsyth
- Gillie (uncredited): Penny Cluer
- Musician (uncredited): Peter Brewis
- Hairdresser (uncredited): Leslie Blackater
- Villager (uncredited): Juliet Cadzow
- Villager (uncredited): Helen Norman
- Girl on Grave (uncredited): Lorraine Peters
- Communicant (uncredited): Ross Campbell
- Communicant (uncredited): Ian Wilson
- Fiancée to Howie (uncredited): Alison Hughes
- Butcher (uncredited): Charles Kearney
- Baker (uncredited): John McGregor
- Briar (uncredited): Jimmy Mackenzie
- Fishmonger: John Young
- Old Fisherman (uncredited): Kevin Collins
- Villager (uncredited): Elizabeth Sinclair
- Old Woman in Library (uncredited): Muriel Greenslade
- (uncredited): Geraldine Cowper
- (uncredited): Andrew Tompkins
- (uncredited): Bernard Murray
- (uncredited): John MacGregor
- Willow MacGreagor (voice) (uncredited): Annie Ross
- Parishioner (uncredited): George Oliver
Film Crew:
- Casting: Maggie Cartier
- Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer
- Sound: Bob Jones
- Sound: Robin Gregory
- Editor: Eric Boyd-Perkins
- Director: Robin Hardy
- Director of Photography: Harry Waxman
- Producer: Peter Snell
- Costume Design: Sue Yelland
- Art Direction: Seamus Flannery
- Original Music Composer: Paul Giovanni
- Makeup Artist: W.T. Partleton
- Hairstylist: Jan Dorman
- Production Manager: Ted Morley
- Sound Editor: Vernon Messenger
- Location Manager: Jilda Smith
- Stunts: Bronco McLoughlin
- Wardrobe Supervisor: Masada Wilmot
- Novel: David Pinner
- Assistant Director: Jake Wright
- Unit Manager: Mike Gowans
- Still Photographer: John Brown
Movie Reviews:
- John Chard: I believe in the life eternal, as promised to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Mainland Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) flies off to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a 12 year old girl. What he finds is a culture steeped in Paganism, presided over by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). Meeting static and indifference wherever he goes – and being driven to anger by the assault on his Christian beliefs – Howie is very much a man alone and most likely in grave danger?
Directed by Robin Hardy and adapted to screen by Anthony Shaffer from David Pinner’s novel, Ritual, The Wicker Man is very much a cult masterpiece. The back stories to it could make a film all by itself, be it censor baiting, studio cuts, body doubles or just plain offending religious groups, it’s a film that is well worth looking into via the top range home format releases.
From the moment Howie (a truly brilliant Woodward) lands at Summerisle everything seems off, there’s a sinister atmosphere pervading the story. He is met by unnerving imagery wherever he goes, songs and rituals gnawing away at his senses, there’s even eroticism deftly placed within the film’s master plan. He doesn’t know what’s going on, and neither do we, this is a mystery right? There is after all a missing child to be found, right? But once Lord Summerisle (Lee also terrific) enters proceedings and ups his game, things unravel in edgy fashion, building up to the justifiably famous and harrowing finale.
Some modern horror fans may baulk at the lack of bloody carnage et al, but this is classic horror. A horror film bulging with intelligence and pulsing away with literate smarts. 9/10