The film that Cinefantastique founder Fred Clarke called, “The CITIZEN KANE of horror,” is back, newly remastered and in an edition that its director has dubbed the “final cut.” In THE WICKER MAN, a devoutly religious Scottish policeman (Edward Woodward) travels to an island-bound agricultural community to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. What he finds is a society reverted back to its pagan traditions, a challenge to his faith via the island’s lord (Christopher Lee), temptation in the form Britt Ekland, and a mystery that suggests the missing child may have fallen victim to the island’s curdled superstitions.
Happy to commemorate the impending rediscovery of a horror classic, Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons welcome theofantastique.com‘s John Morehead in a discussion that examines the film in the context of the time it was made, weighs its impact now, and explores the tortured distribution history that’s led to confusion about what cut could be deemed the official one. Plus: What’s coming to theaters next week.
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