The Wicker Man (1973) on Netflix
Sergeant Neil Howie, a devout Christian, travels to the remote island of Summerisle to search for a missing girl. The islanders deny she existed, and their pagan ways clash with his faith.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.5/10106,732 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
An anonymous letter brings Sergeant Neil Howie of the West Highlands Constabulary to Summerisle, a remote Hebridean island, where a young girl, Rowan Morrison, is said to have gone missing. A devout Christian, Howie finds churches fallen into disuse and islanders who honor Celtic gods, teaching their children pagan custom as May Day approaches. Everyone he questions insists Rowan never existed. At the Green Man Inn, the landlord's daughter tries to seduce him; he says he is engaged and holds to his own. The school register carries Rowan's name though the pupils deny her, and Howie asks the island's leader, Lord Summerisle, for permission to open the girl's grave.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Wicker Man (1973)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Ingrid Pitt, cast as the town librarian and registrar, had an affair with Peter Snell during filming that reportedly upset her husband, the Rank Organisation's head of cinema bookings, and left the film struggling to find distribution.
SPOILER
Studio executives asked for a more upbeat ending in which a sudden rain extinguishes the wicker man's flames and spares Sergeant Howie's life, but the suggestion was refused.- According to Seamus Flannery in a later documentary, director Robin Hardy surprised the cast midway through filming by announcing that they were making a "musical"; the soundtrack contains 13 folk songs performed by characters.
- New British Lion owner John Bentley needed a film in production quickly to convince unions he was not asset-stripping, so although The Wicker Man is set in spring, shooting began in October 1972 and artificial leaves and blossoms were glued to trees.
- Edward Woodward was cast as Sergeant Neil Howie only after the part had been declined by both Michael York and David Hemmings.
- Christopher Lee was so keen to get The Wicker Man made that he and others worked on the production without pay.
- The Wicker Man's "Willow's Song" was covered by Sneaker Pimps as "How Do", included on their 1996 album Becoming X, and the track can be heard in the 2005 film Hostel.
- The film gave its name to the Wickerman Festival, an annual music festival near Auchencairn in Galloway that began in 2001 when artistic director Sid Ambrose devised a counterculture, family-friendly event around the film's locations.
