The Wicker Man

A 'film maudit,' as the French say: a movie that seems to have had a curse laid on it. Apt, too - for Robin Hardy's debut feature, written by Anthony Shaffer, is about paganism on a Scottish island where the inhabitants, ruled by a diabolical aristocrat played by Christoper Lee, are still active in 'the old religion.'

A policeman (Edward Woodward) arrives to investigate a girl's disappearance.

Since some parts of Britain are still home to active covens of witches - and possibly more will be after foot and mouth has shaken the countryside to its grassroots - the film's illustration of how ritual magic lingers on has been described as too realistic by half.

A lot of it was cut, but this version contains 15 minutes of material said not to have been seen before by human eye (that is, perhaps, by one watching the telly).

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