Description

In celebration of our upcoming launch of Robin Hardy’s volcanically anticipated THE WICKER TREE, Fantasia will be mounting a special screening of the filmmaker’s original 1973 classic THE WICKER MAN. Memorably — and rightfully — hailed as “the CITIZEN KANE of genre cinema,” THE WICKER MAN is an unforgettable occult thriller concerning a police officer’s journey into the heart of a Pagan island community in search of a missing child. It remains one of the most original and spellbindingly powerful genre films ever burned into light. With a flawless cast that includes Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland and Ingrid Pitt, an acidic screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, a soundtrack of unforgettable songs that will permeate your brain and a sense of ironic humour that consistently surprises, THE WICKER MAN is as unique as it is brilliant. One of the great films about religious conflict and the toxicity of faith (certainly ranking up there with Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS), and one of the few to tackle its confrontational subject with such a heightened degree of knowledge and ingenuity — and gutsiness, to say the least — this is truly a film for the ages.

—Mitch Davis