Grimmfest and the BFI’s Gothic season present the chance to see The Wicker Man – one of the touchstones of British cult cinema – in a new extended cut.
Robin Hardy’s film follows a mainland policeman who travels to a remote Scottish island in search of a missing girl. What Edward Woodward’s dour copper actually finds are islanders in thrall to the pagan rituals and free love preached by Christopher Lee’s charismatic Lord Summerisle, and his doomed investigation takes a sinister turn towards one of horror’s most memorable climaxes. Although butchered by studios on first release in 1973 and consigned to life as a B-picture, with footage reputedly used as motorway landfill, The Wicker Man’s stunning pastoral visuals, seductive folk score and endlessly-quotable dialogue ensured an afterlife as a late-night stoner favourite and Sight & Sound readers’ darling. The new 40th anniversary DVD release restores many of the missing scenes in a new HD print, and Robin Hardy will be present in person for a Q&A after this special screening.
Wed 2 Oct, The Plaza, Mersey Square, Stockport, SK1 1SP, Tel: 0161 477 7779, 7pm (plus matinee screening-only at 2pm), £7 (£6 matinee), grimmfest.com
@grimmfest
- Words:
- Joe Cairns
- Published on:
- Thu 19 Sep 2013
