The Wicker Man
British cult film The Wicker Man, about the disappearance of a girl on a Scottish island, is half a century old. To celebrate Halloween, this pagan nightmare is screened once in 4K restoration.
Devout police inspector Howie travels to a small Scottish island to investigate the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl. Not only do the residents of the island strangely enough turn out to be totally uninterested in the disappearance, they also behave strangely and indulge in witchcraft, extreme nature worshipping and free sex – nothing pagan is foreign to the islanders. What begins as a routine investigation slowly turns into a fever dream for the overwhelmed Howie.
Fifty years ago, THE WICKER MAN popularized a subgenre known today as folk horror: horror with an emphasis on the nightmarish side of folklore. The subgenre is alive and kicking, as American director Ari Aster showed in 2019 with his hit MIDSOMMAR, with which he quite explicitly nods to THE WICKER MAN. The screening of the ‘final cut’ of THE WICKER MAN provides an ideal opportunity to watch one of the most iconic horror films ever on the big screen.