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.

[5][6] The plot centres on the visit of a police officer, Sergeant Neil Howie, to the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle in search of a missing girl.

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.

On 29 April, Sergeant Neil Howie journeys by seaplane to the remote, verdant Hebridean island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, about whom he has received an anonymous letter.

Howie, a devout Christian, is disturbed to find the Islanders paying homage to the pagan Celtic gods of their ancestors, with churches having fallen into disuse.

While Howie is staying at the Green Man Inn, the landlord's daughter attempts to seduce him, but he resists, explaining that he is engaged and saving himself for marriage.

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.

The villagers force Howie inside a giant wicker man statue along with various animals, set it ablaze, and surround it, singing the Middle English folk song "Sumer Is Icumen In".

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][20] Television actor Edward Woodward was cast in the role of Sergeant Neil Howie after the part was declined by both Michael York and David Hemmings.

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 film was shot almost entirely in the small Scottish towns of Stranraer, Gatehouse of Fleet, Newton Stewart, Kirkcudbright, Anwoth and Creetown in Galloway, as well as Plockton in Ross-shire.

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.

[34] 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.

Hardy subsequently had to remove about 20 minutes of scenes[7] on the mainland, early investigations, and (to Lee's disappointment) some of Lord Summerisle's initial meeting with Howie.

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.

[21] A two-disc limited edition set was sold with the shortened theatrical release, the new extended version and a documentary, The Wicker Man Enigma.

[46] 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.

On 21 June, the 4K restoration Final Cut was screened in cinemas across the UK along with a Q&A filmed in London, hosted by Edith Bowman with guests including Britt Ekland, and Robin Hardy's sons Julian and Dominic promoting their Wickermania!

"[57] Janet Maslin of The 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.

[68][69] In 2003, the Crichton Campus of the University of Glasgow in Dumfries hosted a three-day conference on The Wicker Man, which resulted in the publication of two collections of papers about the film.

In 2016, British band Radiohead released the music video for the song "Burn the Witch", made in stop-motion animation and whose storyline greatly resembles that of The Wicker Man.

The White, a 2008 EP by American extreme metal band Agalloch, included three tracks featuring samples of dialogue from the film: "The Isle of Summer", "Summerisle Reprise", and "Sowilo Rune" [76] In the film Shallow Grave, Ewan McGregor's character is shown watching the final scene, representing the building sense of doom the character is experiencing.

The EP, on Heavenly Recordings, (HVN72412[77]) 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.

In 1989, Shaffer wrote a 30-page film script treatment entitled The Loathsome Lambton Worm, a direct sequel to The Wicker Man, for producer Lance Reynolds.

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,[80] but becomes embroiled in a series of challenges which pit the old gods against his own Christian faith.

[82] 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.

[99] 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.

[104] British performers David Bramwell and Eliza Skelton host a travelling show entitled Sing-along-a-Wickerman, which includes many Wicker Man-themed activities culminating in a sing-along screening of the film.