{"id":59222,"title":"The Wicker Man (1973)","description":"The Wicker Man is one third of the unholy trinity of British folk horror, and has been a source of inspiration for both serious successors such as Midsommar (2019) and tongue-in-cheek parody. Edward Woodward even makes a cameo as Tom Weaver in the buddy comedy Hot Fuzz (2007) with director Edgar Wright citing it as one of his favourite horror movies. The 1973 original has spawned an oft-memed American remake, its unproduced sequel has been fully reworked as an audio drama, and even Alton Towers has added a Wicker Man roller-coaster to its grounds, replete with real flames and a momentum-powered track mechanism","content":"

\"lpi825hb1p0jme0pciwkhhshavfhzgp6kyfdevo0gcgqtxir.jpg.jpg?w=1140&v=2\"Our intern Lola looks at the novelisation of The Wicker Man<\/em>. If you are near Dorchester on May 1st next year, come to<\/strong> Ooser Fest<\/u><\/strong><\/a>, a three-day festival of 21st-century folk which Ross is organising, which involves a <\/strong>midnight screening<\/strong><\/a> of the film. <\/strong>Sign up to the email newsletter<\/u><\/strong><\/a> on the website and follow us on <\/strong>Instagram<\/u><\/strong><\/a> for some other very exciting news about screenings we are doing for the event.<\/strong><\/p>

The Wicker Man is one third of the unholy trinity of British folk horror, and has been a source of inspiration for both serious successors such as Midsommar (2019) and tongue-in-cheek parody. Edward Woodward even makes a cameo as Tom Weaver in the buddy comedy Hot Fuzz (2007) with director Edgar Wright citing it as one of his favourite horror movies. The 1973 original has spawned an oft-memed American remake, its unproduced sequel has been fully reworked as an audio drama, and even Alton Towers has added a Wicker Man roller-coaster to its grounds, replete with real flames and a momentum-powered track mechanism. Employees are even encouraged to act like cultists as they direct thrill-seekers towards the imitation wood carts.<\/p>

One adaptation that is left out of discussions surrounding the movie surprisingly often is the novelisation, written by Director Robin Hardy and Writer Anthony Shaffer (who also worked on Frenzy<\/u><\/a>, 1972) in 1978, five years after the film\u2019s release. The film famously has several different versions, but some things in the book have clearly not made it to the screen at all. From world-building details to entire characters, the novelisation deviates from the movie more than you might expect. These are five things from the Wicker Man book that are missing from the movie.<\/p>

  1. Howie\u2019s Hobbies<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

    In the film, the only scene that takes place before Howie lands on the island takes place in a church. This is an effective opener because it sets up his devout nature, and works with the finale to bookend the story. In the book, however, we are not immediately introduced to Neil Howie, Christian. Nor are we introduced to Sergeant Howie of the West Highland police. Instead, we meet Neil Howie, birdwatcher.<\/p>

    Some might say this change is for the worse: it weakens the strong sense of character he has in the film, and the first few pages are honestly quite dull unless you are a fan of avian terminology. It does give us a different perspective of him, though, as an enthusiastic individual with specific tics, wants and interests, rather than a stuffed suit. It also gives him the chance to show his mettle as a police officer when he catches a hunter.<\/p>

    1. Mary Bannock<\/p>

      \"wnnfpirxuljpdzpqjkdb0baj0uc4me8yxgb0rrgdbrja0abw.jpg.jpg?w=1140&v=2\"<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

      The full extent of Mary\u2019s role in the film comes down to two interactions in the screenplay, and one in the film, wherein she is not even named. In the novel, however, Mary is a big part of the way Howie\u2019s complex views toward sex and desire are communicated to the audience. She is Howie\u2019s fiance, and is not only brought up but appears several times as an expression of his conventional, Christian life away from the island. It is this connection that brings a real sense of contrast against the islanders.<\/p>

      \u201cMary was the antidote he was sure he must use for the tempting poison that flowed from Willow or the cider or both.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

      Mary is predictably a big part of the sexual theming and politics of the story, bringing in a new dimension that is almost entirely absent from the film. In the quote above, Howie is reflecting on his feelings for her, and how he has come to realise their extent during his time on the island.<\/p>

      \u201c\u2018In that case, you\u2019d have made the perfect average episcopalian, Mary!\u2019 said \u2018Her Neil\u2019, aware, even as he said it, that he wished he hadn\u2019t.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

      Mary humanises Howie, breaking the image of the zealot, while still reinforcing the part that religion plays in both their lives. If you thought the ending had ceased to shock you after the first dozen watches, going into it knowing that there are people back on the mainland who care about him refocuses it.<\/p>

      1. Lord Summerisle\u2019s gillie<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

        As well as providing some logistical relief, the inclusion of the nameless outdoor assistant to Christopher Lee\u2019s<\/u><\/a> character plays several important thematic roles in the story. First, she symbolises the wealth that Lord Summerisle enjoys, assumedly at the expense of his constituents. She is also described as a \u201cmuscular looking female\u201d and while Howie is repulsed by the suggestion that the sight of the young girls jumping naked over flames refreshed him, she has no such qualms, a moment of very seventies sexual politics that also contributes to the \u201cfree love\u201d motif of the pagan religion. Finally, the gillie also explores the idea of a \u201cpagan schism,\u201d by calling her brother, an acolyte of a previously unmentioned river god, a \u201cprotestant.\u201d This introduces the idea that maybe the pagans and the Christians aren\u2019t really so different, a thought that shakes Sergeant Howie and his stubborn world-view.<\/p>

        1. Common ground<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

          Remember when I said that Neil Howie loved birding? Well it makes more sense later on in the story, when his personal interests collide with his professional ones in a standout chapter. In the movie, the repressed Howie and the enigmatic Lord Summerisle are shown as total opposites, but one scene in the novel brings this into question.<\/p>

          The exchange is sandwiched within a scene from the film in which Lord Summerisle gives Howie some much needed exposition regarding the island, its pagan beliefs, and the science behind their abundant crops. Both in the film and the book, Howie is doubtful about how sustainable this system is, but while in the film his worries are simply dismissed, the novel takes a different approach.<\/p>

          \u201c\u2018Your secret will be safe with me, My Lord\u2019 Howie said, in voice made a little taut with emotion\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

          Not only is the book less hindered by Christopher Lee\u2019s automatically menacing presence (cultivated through years of villainous roles), it includes a moment where both Howie and Summerisle observe an endangered species of bird, flying freely and safely within the Summerisle bubble. It is difficult to say whether this was intended purely as another manipulation tactic, a genuine moment of connection between the two, or a metaphor for liberation, but it adds an extra layer to the dynamic all the same.<\/p>

          1. In the minority<\/p><\/li><\/ol>

            It isn\u2019t clear in the film, but in the book, Howie\u2019s insistence on preaching the word of God to the utterly ambivalent islanders is clearly a coping mechanism for dropping out of the seminary. The novel tells us that he was overwhelmed by the thought of preaching episcopalianism in a mainly Presbyterian region and switched career paths because of it. Out of all the details that are added through the prose adaptation, this is potentially the most interesting for what it brings to Howie as a character. One can only imagine what he is feeling amongst the pagan inhabitants of Summerisle!<\/p>

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