In Robin Hardy's supremely creepy 1973 cult picture "The Wicker Man," a cop named Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote island called Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The citizens of Summerisle are secretive and strange and still abide by ancient Celtic religious rites. Howie, a devout Christian, is put off by their pagan weirdness. During his investigation, Howie stays at a local inn, The Green Man, overseen by Mr. McGregor (Lindsay Kemp) and his comely daughter Willow. Willow is sexually forward with Howie, something else he finds discomforting.
Later that night, while Howie attempts to sleep, Willow strips nude in her own room and gyrates seductively against the wall that neighbors Howie's. Howie can't see or hear it, but he seems to sense something strange is happening. Is she casting a spell of some kind?
It turns out that the nude body audiences saw dancing wasn't Ekland at all,...
Later that night, while Howie attempts to sleep, Willow strips nude in her own room and gyrates seductively against the wall that neighbors Howie's. Howie can't see or hear it, but he seems to sense something strange is happening. Is she casting a spell of some kind?
It turns out that the nude body audiences saw dancing wasn't Ekland at all,...
- 4/14/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Simon Brew Jul 3, 2016
Sad news: the man who gave us the wonderful The Wicker Man, Robin Hardy, has died.
Film director Robin Hardy has died at the age of 86, it's been confirmed. Hardy may have only made three feature films across his career (he was a novelist too), but heck, one of them was really something incredibly special.
For Hardy made his directorial debut with 1973's The Wicker Man, the hugely influential horror that's regarded by many as one of the best in the genre of all time (Sir Christopher Lee called it his favourite of all the films he made). Hardy would, in 2011, direct The Wicker Tree, and had plans to make a third movie in the series, as a tribute to Sir Christopher Lee.
Hardy also helmed The Fantasist in 1986, that he also wrote.
The late and sadly-missed Ingrid Pitt wrote for us about her time making The Wicker Man here,...
Sad news: the man who gave us the wonderful The Wicker Man, Robin Hardy, has died.
Film director Robin Hardy has died at the age of 86, it's been confirmed. Hardy may have only made three feature films across his career (he was a novelist too), but heck, one of them was really something incredibly special.
For Hardy made his directorial debut with 1973's The Wicker Man, the hugely influential horror that's regarded by many as one of the best in the genre of all time (Sir Christopher Lee called it his favourite of all the films he made). Hardy would, in 2011, direct The Wicker Tree, and had plans to make a third movie in the series, as a tribute to Sir Christopher Lee.
Hardy also helmed The Fantasist in 1986, that he also wrote.
The late and sadly-missed Ingrid Pitt wrote for us about her time making The Wicker Man here,...
- 7/3/2016
- Den of Geek
“Come. It is time to keep your appointment with the Wicker Man”.
Christopher Lee claimed The Wicker Man (1973) was the greatest film he was ever part of. For good reasons, as this is one of the most unusual and original cinematic masterpieces ever brought to screen and an absolute must-see for everybody interested in movies. The unique greatness of The Wicker Man combines elements from a variety of genres; Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy, Drama, and even Musical, but it cannot really be limited to one particular genre. Scottish police sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) is called by an anonymous letter to investigate the disappearance of a young girl on the remote Scottish island Summerisle. Upon his arrival, nobody seems to have ever heard of the girl. The deeply religious Sergeant Howie, however, is shocked to find out that the residents of the island, above all the sophisticated but mysterious Lord Summerisle...
Christopher Lee claimed The Wicker Man (1973) was the greatest film he was ever part of. For good reasons, as this is one of the most unusual and original cinematic masterpieces ever brought to screen and an absolute must-see for everybody interested in movies. The unique greatness of The Wicker Man combines elements from a variety of genres; Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy, Drama, and even Musical, but it cannot really be limited to one particular genre. Scottish police sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) is called by an anonymous letter to investigate the disappearance of a young girl on the remote Scottish island Summerisle. Upon his arrival, nobody seems to have ever heard of the girl. The deeply religious Sergeant Howie, however, is shocked to find out that the residents of the island, above all the sophisticated but mysterious Lord Summerisle...
- 7/3/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Filmmaker Robin Hardy, best known for directing the original "The Wicker Man," has died at the age of 86. Hardy passed on Friday with his wife confirming the news in a Facebook post.
Hardy made his feature film directorial debut on the 1973 horror mystery about a sergeant named Howie (Edward Woodward) who goes to the fictional island Summerisle to search for a missing girl.
Hardy would go on to helm 1986's "The Fantasist," pen the screenplay for the 1989 mystery "Forbidden Sun" and to write and direct the follow-up with 2011's "The Wicker Tree".
Source: Variety...
Hardy made his feature film directorial debut on the 1973 horror mystery about a sergeant named Howie (Edward Woodward) who goes to the fictional island Summerisle to search for a missing girl.
Hardy would go on to helm 1986's "The Fantasist," pen the screenplay for the 1989 mystery "Forbidden Sun" and to write and direct the follow-up with 2011's "The Wicker Tree".
Source: Variety...
- 7/2/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Robin Hardy, the British director of cult film The Wicker Man, has died, the BBC reports. A family friend confirmed to the news outlet on Saturday that Hardy had died Friday. He was 86 years old. The Wicker Man, the 1973 horror-fantasy-comedy film that marked Hardy's directorial debut, has amassed a significant cult following since its release, inspiring a Nicolas Cage-led 2006 remake and a 2011 sequel of sorts, The Wicker Tree, written and directed by Hardy. Christopher Lee, who starred in the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars films, wrote in his autobiography that The Wicker Man was "the best-scripted film I ever took part in.
- 7/2/2016
- by Andrea Park, @scandreapark
- PEOPLE.com
There was a 38 year gap between British director Robin Hardy.s excellent 1973 debut The Wicker Man and its 2011 sequel The Wicker Tree. And even though Hardy will turn 84 years old in October, I still expected at least another decade to go by before he started on The Wrath of the Gods, the third film in the Wicker trilogy. However, the director has told ScreenDaily that it won.t be long at all before he begins working on it. The only other film Hardy has directed was 1986.s thriller The Fantasist, so it.s hard to tell whether we should be excited about this news or wary. "I am just at the opening stages of financing it, and hope to make it next year," Hardy announced to the site. He.s actually been planning to make it for the last two years, but he seems more assured about it this time...
- 8/24/2013
- cinemablend.com
By Lee Pfeiffer
If you think Terrence Mallick makes films infrequently, consider the career of Robin Hardy, who gained acclaim for his direction of the 1973 British horror classic The Wicker Man. In the ensuing decades, Hardy has been associated with precisely three other feature films, all little-seen: as writer of Forbidden Sun (1989), The Wicker Tree (2011, as writer and director) and the 1986 film The Fantasist, which he also wrote and directed. The latter film suffered from a botched release and poor reviews, with the verdict being that Hardy's much-anticipated return to filmmaking was a letdown. Scorpion Releasing has issued The Fantasist on DVD and the movie deserves to be re-evaluated with the passage of time.
The film is set in Ireland and Hardy makes excellent use of both urban and rural locations. Moira Harris (sometimes billed as Moira Sinise nowadays due to her marriage to actor Gary Sinise), an actress who is American by birth,...
If you think Terrence Mallick makes films infrequently, consider the career of Robin Hardy, who gained acclaim for his direction of the 1973 British horror classic The Wicker Man. In the ensuing decades, Hardy has been associated with precisely three other feature films, all little-seen: as writer of Forbidden Sun (1989), The Wicker Tree (2011, as writer and director) and the 1986 film The Fantasist, which he also wrote and directed. The latter film suffered from a botched release and poor reviews, with the verdict being that Hardy's much-anticipated return to filmmaking was a letdown. Scorpion Releasing has issued The Fantasist on DVD and the movie deserves to be re-evaluated with the passage of time.
The film is set in Ireland and Hardy makes excellent use of both urban and rural locations. Moira Harris (sometimes billed as Moira Sinise nowadays due to her marriage to actor Gary Sinise), an actress who is American by birth,...
- 4/23/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Director Robin Hardy burst in to the international film world in 1973 with the release of The Wicker Man, the cult title still widely considered to be one of the greatest British genre films ever made. Hardy's career has followed an unusual path since, his directing credits post-Wicker Man limited to just 1986 feature The Fantasist and some work on 1989 television series E Street.But now Hardy is back, and returning to the ground that made him famous in the first place with The Wicker Tree.When two young missionaries (Brittania Nicol, Henry Garrett) head to Scotland, they are initially charmed by their engaging baron Sir Lachlan Morrison (Graham McTavish) and agree to become the local Queen of the May and Laddie for the annual...
- 1/16/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Last Friday at New York City’s 92YTribeca, fans of Robin Hardy’s 1973 British horror classic The Wicker Man got a special treat. Not only was a 35mm print of the movie screened with Hardy in attendance, but the director unveiled 10 minutes of clips from his latest feature The Wicker Tree (formerly known as Cowboys For Christ). Fango got a chance to speak with Hardy exclusively about the new project, which was partially encouraged by the misbegotten 2006 remake of The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage.
“It had been in my mind to do another movie,” Hardy says, “and when they made the Nicolas Cage version, I thought they missed the point of the first film completely. I say point, but I mean points, really. They just used the plot and threw away all the atmosphere and charm, the things which lulled you into a sense of this being a marvelous,...
“It had been in my mind to do another movie,” Hardy says, “and when they made the Nicolas Cage version, I thought they missed the point of the first film completely. I say point, but I mean points, really. They just used the plot and threw away all the atmosphere and charm, the things which lulled you into a sense of this being a marvelous,...
- 11/6/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Michael Gingold)
- Fangoria
As an Irishman who’s never set foot in Ireland, I’m sort of obsessed with all things Irish. So I was ecstatic to find out I Sell The Dead was written and directed a real, live Irishman, from Ireland, with the accent, the pale (I call it “royal”) complexion, and the Guinness addiction—Glenn McQuaid. Let the stalking begin!
The press has had a field day with McQuaid’s film (including Fangoria; you can watch a nice “Making of…” feaurette and read a “Director’s Statement” here) McQuaid and the film are basically omnipresent in the horror and mainstream press at the moment, which is awesome…
…unless you pride yourself on getting info out of your interview subjects that hasn’t been printed a billion times before. Damn you and your success, McQuaid!
So I decided to let sleeping zombies lie and came up with a random series of...
The press has had a field day with McQuaid’s film (including Fangoria; you can watch a nice “Making of…” feaurette and read a “Director’s Statement” here) McQuaid and the film are basically omnipresent in the horror and mainstream press at the moment, which is awesome…
…unless you pride yourself on getting info out of your interview subjects that hasn’t been printed a billion times before. Damn you and your success, McQuaid!
So I decided to let sleeping zombies lie and came up with a random series of...
- 8/23/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Sean Abley)
- Fangoria
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