The Wicker Man - Final Cut 40th Anniversary 197... [2021]

In previous cuts, the sexual awakening of the barmaid Willow (played by Britt Ekland and her body double) was truncated. The Final Cut restores the full, hypnotic sequence where Willow bangs on the wall of Howie’s room while singing "Willow’s Waltz." It is a scene of pagan seduction that is less about nudity and more about the violation of Howie’s puritanical psyche.

In the pantheon of cinematic horror, there are films that make you jump, films that make you squirm, and films that make you turn on every light in the house before going to bed. Then, there is The Wicker Man (1973). For forty years, Robin Hardy’s masterpiece has done something far more disturbing: it has made audiences think —and then hum folk songs about it. The Wicker Man - Final Cut 40th Anniversary 197...

One of the most critical achievements of is the restoration of character nuance. In previous cuts, the sexual awakening of the

The 40th-anniversary release of The Wicker Man (1973), titled The Final Cut Then, there is The Wicker Man (1973)

Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) confronts Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) in the greenhouse. The Final Cut adds a few extra seconds of dialogue where Summerisle mocks the "theology of the dead Jewish carpenter." This is the ideological knife fight the film was always meant to have. Christopher Lee, who considered this his finest performance, shines brightest here.

: The film explores the friction between Howie's rigid morality and the islanders' hedonistic, fertility-focused rituals.

A dedicated disc featuring Paul Giovanni’s hauntingly iconic folk score, including tracks like "Corn Rigs" and "The Tinker of Rye". Documentaries: Featurettes such as Burnt Offering: The Cult of the Wicker Man Worshipping the Wicker Man