40th Anniversary edition of The Wicker Man: The FInal Cut out on DVD and Blu-ray in October

I know we often leave you with a horror flick for the weekend, but this week we leave you with one of the greatest British horror flicks of all time, arriving as a final cut edition courtesy of StudioCanal UK on 14th October.

We speak of none other than a release of The Wicker Man: 40th Anniversary Editon, directed by Robin Hardy from a screenplay by Antony Shaffer. Starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento and Ingrid Pitt, this arrives on both DVD and Blu-ray with a rather long list of extras that we'll get to soon.

Before that, a note on the transfer of the main cut, scanned at 4k to create the first ever full digital restoration of the film, with Robin Hardy's guidance, this is the cut he had put together with distributors Abraxas in 1979 for the US release.

Alas it looks like original film materials for the fabled Director’s Cut will probably now never be found. Robin says, “Sadly, it seems as though this has been lost forever. However, I am delighted that a 1979 Abraxas print has been found as I also put together this cut myself, and it crucially restores the story order to that which I had originally intended. This version of The Wicker Man will (optimistically!) be known as The Final Cut. The film as I saw it in the editing suite the other day fulfills my vision of what it was intended to convey to the audience.“

Both releases will include the aforementioned final cut, the UK Theatrical cut and the Director's cut with seamless branching on the Blu-ray version. Also there will be a commentary track, and a making-of featurette about the audio commentary.

New extras include an interview with Hardy, The Music of the Wicker Man featurette, Worshipping The Wicker Man Featurette and restoration comparison. Joined by older favourites Burnt Offering: The Cult of The Wicker Man featurette, an interview with Christopher and Robin Hardy from 1979, original soundtrack and trailer.

Expect a recommended retail price for the four disc DVD release to be around £19.99 whilst we think the Blu-ray three disc edition will retail for £24.99 and under.

Synopsis and trailer follow...

When a young girl mysteriously disappears on a remote Scottish island, devout Christian Police Sergeant Howie travels there to investigate. He finds a close-knit and secretive pastoral community living on an island paradise, ruled over by mysterious Lord Summerisle, with beliefs very much at odds with his puritanism.

The islanders mock Howie's attempts to question them about the girl's disappearance, and put the very foundations of his faith to the test. He begins to fear that the fate of the girl could be linked to the islanders' failing crops and their belief that only a sacrifice of the highest order will change their luck. As May Day festivities intensify and the islanders' behaviour becomes more frenzied, Howie's quest to save the girl becomes a race against time.