Its time for you to keep your appointment with The Wicker Man (the original version that is - not the dreadful recent remake).
The Wicker Man is a very unusual film. Made in the mould of the Hammer movies its clever script and its original theme, together with some inspired casting led to the modestly budgeted and hastily shot film both looking and playing out beautifully, helping it to eventually become a cult classic. Both Woodward and more particularly Christopher Lee are superb in their roles. Indeed, throughout Lee's long career it is in this role that he gives his finest performance as the statuesque and very bonny Lord Summerisle. Mention should also be made of the soundtrack of dark folk tunes that helps summon up the suitably brooding pagan air of the film.
Hopefully the release of the abjectly dismal and pointless Hollywood will encourage a new younger audience to check out the craftsmanship, love and inspiration that went into making the original version of The Wicker Man.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39910 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 100 minutes

DVD Description
DISC 1

The Wicker Man – Original Theatrical Release (84 mins) Theatrical Trailer DISC 2

The Wicker Man – Director’s Cut (99 mins) Feature length commentary: Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, and Director Robin Hardy, moderated by Mark Kermode The Wicker Man Enigma - 35 minute documentary Burnt Offering: The Cult of The Wicker Man – 50 minute documentary presented by Mark Kermode 1973 interview with Christopher Lee and Robin Hardy (25 mins) DISC 3

Original soundtrack CD

Feature running times:

Theatrical version: 84 mins approx

Director’s Cut: 99 mins approx

Aspect ratio: Both films 1.85:1 Anamorphic

Audio:

Theatrical version: 5.1

Director’s Cut: Mono

Synopsis
A notoriously troubled production notwithstanding, the controversial cult classic THE WICKER MAN is now regarded as a classic of British cinema. Edward Woodward stars as Sergeant Howie, a naive young police officer sent to Summerisle, a secluded island off the coast of Scotland, to investigate the disappearance of a young girl named Rowan. When he arrives there, he finds a very tight-knit community that is mistrustful and hostile to outsiders. No one is willing to even acknowledge Rowan's disappearance. Soon, Howie begins to realize that the town might, in fact, be a strange pagan cult, one given to unbridled sexuality and possible human sacrifice. Seeking an audience with the oddly civilized Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), Howie hopes to get to the bottom of the mystery, but instead he finds something more shocking than he could have ever imagined. Written by Anthony Shaffer (SLEUTH, DEATH ON THE NILE), Robin Hardy's eerie film paints a disturbing portrait of an almost prehistoric, multi-deity worshipping society given to bizarre rituals and Bacchanalian excess. Though recognition may have been a long time coming, THE WICKER MAN stands as a strikingly original achievement that is equal parts horror, drama, comedy, and musical.

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Customer Reviews

Excellent package
I won't bother reviewing the film itself, as I'm sure most of you reading this are already fans, so I'll just stick to describing this new 3-disc release.

As many of you probably know, the film was considered too long for a commercial release by the typically clueless studio execs of the time, and was summarily hacked-down by about 15 minutes. In a depressing turn of events, the original negative of the film was lost, leaving no high quality method of restoring the missing footage.

Luckily for us, they were able to clip the missing footage into the main print, via the only full, unedited version in existence...a print owned by Roger Corman, the American king of exploitation pictures no less!

The quality of the missing scenes is not nearly as good as the rest of the film, making a list of "restored scenes" entirely unnecessary (you'll be able to tell), but it's probably the best we will ever get.

The package contains both the edited and newly restored versions of the film. The edited theatrical version has a very good transfer and 5.1 dolby sound mix. The Director's cut is presented in the aforementioned spotty video and mono audio.

The excellent commentary from the previous U.K. version is also included here (even if Christopher Lee comes off a bit cranky), as well as the original 35 minute featurette "The Wicker Man Enigma".

What's new is the freshly produced 60 minute documentary hosted by Mark Kermode. It's a wonderful and informative documentary, that suprisingly covers mostly different ground than the "Wicker Man Enigma", paying more attention to the genesis of the project and it's filming, rather than the "unfortunate fate" of the film covered in "Enigma".

You also get a soundtrack CD, which is something I've been waiting for forever. The sound quality is excellent, suprisingly so, although "The Landlord's daughter" is a different version than the one from the film. They must have lost the original. Also, there is no tracklisting for the CD, but that's a minor quibble.

This is a big upgrade for North American buyers, as we gain the new documentary as well as the soundtrack and commentary. U.K. buyers are only gaining the documentary, and soundtrack, but either way I think it's well worth the upgrade. Job well done!

A Haunting Classic!
The Wicker Man is an amazing film! This release gives you the opportunity to see the Director's Cut, compare the different versions and learn more -which is great!
I personally love the scene where there is a big close-up of two snails squelchingly intertwined in the moonlight whilst Willow McGregor and Ash Buchanan are having sex! Very symbolic, and very clever.

Robin Hardy was clearly a very talented director and I wonder why he did not do more. His direction gives this film a lingering, quiet creepiness which is more unnerving than a full-on horror film. The creepy imagery is often quite subtle - like that creepy, swaying woman in the graveyard with the egg in one hand and the baby in the other, and that weird candle shaped like a hand that Willow uses to put Howie to sleep. The climax of the film is particularly chilling and visually very effective. Like many good films (including Get Carter) The Wicker Man only got the recognition it deserved after many years. Great cast. Great music. A film stains your brain. A film that is hauntingly poignant and far more than the sum of its parts.

Cult Classic Fearful of Faith
The Wicker Man is a film about a pious Catholic sergeant's visit to a small island off the coast of Scotland called the Island of Summerisle. His name is Neil and he is there to investigate the disappearance of a girl. His investigation reveals that the island is enamored with a neo-pagan religion. They worship the sun instead of Jesus. They engage in pagan fertility rituals instead of Neil's proud pre-marital chastity. They believe in reincarnation where the Christian canon Neil is devoted to does not. As if the islanders are telepathically connected, Neil receives absolutely no help from anyone in his investigation. He gradually puts together more and more details about the inhabitants' practices and is suspicious of everyone.

A May Day festival approaches and Neil becomes concerned that the girl who is missing may indeed be the latest sacrifice to appease nature. But as the Island owner Lord Summerisle reveals, Neil too is a virgin and is both wise and foolish. He comes as a king representing Her Majesty's government. He also arrives to a place of sacrifice by his own free will. The final sequence of the Wicker Man is the ultimate warning toward blind faith. Anyone who misses the point here, like the makers of the 2006 remake of the Wicker Man did, will clearly find little resolution in the end but others willing to enjoy and exercise their imagination a little bit will have much to mull over.

The film's music is one of its strengths and the detail of the pagan references and how they are convenient roots to many Christian traditions (i.e. Easter icons and Beltane or May Day) help to make the overall vision of the Wicker Man even more compelling. All of the elements within the film melt together and everyone working it must've understood these ideas in perspective.

The funny thing about the Wicker Man is it is often referred to as a Horror film. There really isn't anything else to call it but it is almost too unique and exceptional to be deemed a horror film. It isn't scary like a typical horror film is. It doesn't elicit fear and disgust the way all other horror films have. There are no zombies, vampires or murdering sociopaths. There are no supernatural forces and there is little blood to be spilled. It isn't characterized by that one note creepy music or menacing Hitchcockian suspense. It doesn't rely on knives and masked killers stalking in the night. It doesn't even need a seemingly indestructible villain. The Wicker Man is a film that relies exclusively on its all encompassing atmosphere and it also relies on our own understandings of religion and faith. It is sunny, it is bright, it is cheerful, but for all of the wrong reasons to many of us. It is compelling all throughout. Somehow on this island paganism resurfaced and the worshippers are fiercely and irrationally devout. That point's layers of commentary aside, the Wicker Man is very much a horror film and it is probably more intelligent than any other movies within its genre.