Horror fans are invited to watch one of the all-time classics as they've never seen it before during a special screening at Tyneside Cinema this weekend.
The independent Newcastle cinema will be showing The Wicker Man on Sunday to mark the film's 50-year anniversary. And in celebration of its milestone the chiller has been restored to ensure that the famous movie is seen at its scary best.
The 1973 film, starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland, focuses on a police officer who takes a boat trip to the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a girl. There the puritan policeman is shocked to find the islanders follow pagan beliefs instead of Christianity while his inquiries seem to run into a brick wall at every turn.
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The film was a directorial debut for Robin Hardy and, with its sinister and disturbing atmosphere building against a background of haunting folk songs, it has gone on to achieve cult status. But it was heavily cut upon its original release, with rumours of those missing scenes only adding to its folklore.
The Studiocanal restoration is a new 4K version of the 2011 final cut of the film. There have been earlier cuts and such is the film's enduring power that there has been a re-make, in 2006 with Nicolas Cage, and it even has an attraction at Alton Towers named after it.
The restored classic, billed as a British folk horror masterpiece, can be seen at Tyneside Cinema at 5.05pm on Sunday and limited tickets are still available: see here.
There are plans to re-master the film's existing three cuts for a collector's edition to be released in September too. That same month will see the original film have another screening in Newcastle: within the atmospheric surroundings of the Great Hall of the Castle Keep on September 29. See here for information about the Keep's full programme of films and events.
