The Wicker Man - cinemabang.com

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the folk-horror classic, Studiocanal is releasing a glorious new 4K restoration of The Wicker Man.

All three versions of the film; The Final Cut, The Director’s Cut and The Theatrical Cut, have been painstakingly restored and will be released in an exclusive 5-disc Collector’s Edition as well as a 4-disc Steelbook version. The Final Cut will also be available on Digital the same day.

In the 50 years since its original release, The Wicker Man has achieved true cult status as one of the most revered horror films in cinema history, despite a difficult production and heavily cut original theatrical release. The search for the fabled missing scenes has only added to the myth surrounding a film that still inspires filmmakers to this day. The Wicker Man was directed by Robin Hardy and has a cast featuring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland and Diane Cilento. 

The film tells the chilling story of a puritan Police Sergeant who arrives on a remote Scottish Island in search of a missing girl only to find the Pagan locals claiming she never existed. The Wicker Man is also much celebrated for its soundtrack, composed by Paul Giovanni and overseen by Gary Carpenter, featuring haunting reworking’s of traditional British folk songs. 

THE RESTORATION OF THE FINAL CUT

The restoration was scanned in 4K by Silver Salt Restoration UK, from the original 35mm negative.

A second generation 35mm intermediate positive produced in 1973 was used to replace a small section with unrepairable damage in the original negative. The additional footage is sourced from 35mm prints, which are the only known sources for this material. Colour grading and restoration were completed by Silver Salt Restoration UK who dedicated over 500 hours to fix physical damage to the 35mm negative, manually clean and remove dirt, sparkle and scratches. The colour grade used was previously approved by Robin Hardy and replicated here.