The story behind the release of "The Wicker Man" is every bit as sinister and exciting as the film itself. This new DVD release will please both fans and newcomers alike, even if you know nothing more about this film than simply recognise the title.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture The film is presented in the version released (on disc one) and the director's cut (on disc two). The quality of the original version is good, with minimal grain and a fairly fresh veneer for such a mistreated film. The same master is used to create the director's cut, with the additional footage inserted where appropriate. The quality of that source is much poorer with a soft picture and poor definition, but it is the best available, and frankly we'd rather have it.

Sound The original release comes with an effective new 5.1 mix, while the director's cut is presented in mono. Again, there's a drop in quality during the additional footage, but it's not a big problem.

SPECIAL FEATURES

"The Wicker Man" Enigma (Disc One) One of the lead stars of the film, Edward Woodward, sums up the mood of the other contributors to this fascinating documentary with, "You got the feeling that you were making something important", on talking about the film shoot. Director Robin Hardy shared the opinions of Christopher Lee and producer Peter Snell that the horror films of the time were missing something. It's ironic then that the film suffered a butchering by the distributor British Lion, which is discussed in detail by all, including Roger Corman, who had wanted to distribute the film in the US.

Christopher Lee Interview (Disc One) This 25-minute interview is from an old TV show entitled "Critic's Choice", with Stirling Smith. It features both Lee and Hardy, but due to the age of the videotape it was stored on, has become very soft in image quality. That's unimportant though, as this interview was conducted at the time of release, and Lee is very clear on pushing what he saw even back then as "a unique film".

Audio Commentary (Disc Two) Film critic Mark Kermode moderates this brand new commentary, which features Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, and Robin Hardy. It's a fascinating discussion, which forms easily one of the best DVD commentaries out there. Mark Kermode ensures that background information is supplied so even if you know nothing about this film, you'll understand exactly what's being discussed, as anecdotes and strident opinions fly forth. Many points are raised including the cold weather filming conditions, the music score, and how the director's cut differs from the original release, and what's still missing, including the apple sequence.

Christopher Lee is as always the perfect gentleman, but his anger is clear when he condemns the treatment of the film as, "a great shame on the British film industry". He still believes that the 20 cans of film exists that would make the proper re-editing and mixing of this film possible, and that someone knows what happened to them. We can only hope that these might surface, but until then, this DVD is as close to a dream come true for fans of "The Wicker Man".

Region: 2
Chapters: 20
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 (mono)
Technical Features:Scene selection, and animated menus.

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.