I've only seen the original version and it is probably the creepiest, most sinister film I have ever seen. Found the ending truly horrifying/terrifying and it took several days to get it out of my head!

I prefer the longer version with a little bit of back story at the start.

Wow!...was originally shown in cinemas as a double bill with don't look now How amazing that must of been

I think I prefer the longer version... there's more time to get immersed in the strangeness of it all which makes the ending so much more terrifying.

Like most i saw the original version first and was blown away by it, particularly by the final scene. These days i would definitely go for the longer version to enjoy every moment, delaying the pleasure as it were for that incredible ending.

I love watching Mark Kermode talking about film - he's the best.

I was thinking this would be five minutes of him berating the dreadful 2006 Nicholas cage remake

I love the longest cut. I think the opening scene where he tells a fellow copper, McTaggart(?) to take down "Jesus Saves" graffiti from a wall is crucial. Who is he to decide where and when that message should be broadcast? To me it's his undoing in the end.

Simple, Director's cut.. it carries the intention and authority of the director without all of the guff and fluff of 'lost' scenes!

Glad to see that your box for the dvd came unglued rapidly and it wasn’t just mine! 😜

I've only seen the US cut of The Wicker Man, which I really love. It's slow, but I don't mind that. One of the creepiest movies to take place largely in broad daylight. And while that may not be Britt Ekland's bottom, it's a bottom that is certainly worth looking at. PS - I always hated the narration in Blade Runner, even before I found out it was added against the filmmakers' wishes.

I think the longer version makes more sense, story-wise, builds tension better etc. but it does also have some self indulgient moments, like the bit with the snails humping ... I think the shorter chinematic release is livable with, if I hadn't seen the long version I don't think I'd have missed too much. Brilliant film either way, seductively disturbing. Genuinely don't know whether I feel more sorry for Howie or the sacrificial animals at the end ...

I love Gently Johnny which was new to the extended version, but felt that all the mainland scenes added in the extended DVD ruined the claustrophobia of the island setting. From the sound of it, this version may be the best if both as I hear it keeps the former but removes the latter.

I have that wood box version that you showed off :) However I am confused. Is this new version longer than the older "long" version released on that DVD (and others) or is it the same version but in better quality now?

There are too many different versions of The Wicker Man ! The short 87 minute version is too short and omits the original start, set on the mainland. I have seen black and white stills that were deleted from film. If it were possible now (with hindsight) I would like to have seen a version with all the missing bits. Okay, it would probably be nearer to two hours in length and feature a more slower build up as the story unfolds:

17 and a half minutes?!

Longer! Longest! it's such a great film!

where is the film being screened? i need to know this is likely my favourite horror film

The Studio Canal Directors cut blew my mind when I saw it. Having been a massive fan of the shorter version for years I just couldn't believe some key points of the back story were missing (the blank wall in the pub where the previous harvest photo hung). I'm with Christopher Lee on this...a complete travesty that the original film is now under the M3!!

I have the one where he starts out on the Mainland and flies to his Mystery. It is 102 minutes long and I think it is sufficient . I have read some of the other dialogue that was omitted and I think it is redundant. The Part where Sgt. Howie is talking to Rowan's mother near the 3rd act seems to be clipped and should be fleshed out more. Other than that I own several copies and what I have is good. I do not like the one where it starts out with him being on the Island . This movie like the Blair Witch Project has an underlying sinister , eerie spirit about it. Difference is Wicker Man was way ahead of its time as evident in its rejection by its financiers and the spotty distribution .

I have the first DVD that Kermode showed which has a commentary from the good Dr on it. I haven't watched it for quite some time, I have seen it on TV a few times but I'm not sure which cut it was. I'd like to see the 17 minute cut for a giggle.

I saw the title and genuinely thought it would be a comparison between the Woodward one and the Nicholas Cage version and got myself all prepared for a rant.

I was worried there for a second for the same reason!

I'm a bit like Edward: I'd like to see the film in all possible versions, but am also like Old Christopher, in which the longest cut shouldn't have been done away with. That said: I haven't seen the middle version yet. I'd like to. (I have both the short and extended versions of the film, when I bought the boxset back in 2005 both for myself and a good friend of mine; I gave my original copy of the short version to said friend.)

When I read the title, so a second or two, I thought you meant the Nicolas Cage remake that you thought so highly of.

I agree that all versions have their merits and I'll be interested to see this new release, though frankly I think I'd be more interested in seeing a 17 minute version just because it seems like the most radical "remixing" of the plot yet.

Assuming the new release is basically the same as the "directors cut" dvd release, but restored with high quality picture and sound, this will be great. The most memorable extra scene I think is the Gently Johnny scene.

Hello Mr Kermode. Can you tell me where I can watch The Extended Directors Cut, 99 minutes, online please? I keep searching but all I find is the 2013 Final Cut. Hope you can help. Thank you.

I think the shorter the film is, the more it detracts from the shock ending. Even if there are several scenes that are less than stellar, the build-up and investment in Woodward's character is crucial. The more prolonged that ending is, the more horrific it becomes.

Where can you get/watch the 102 minute version in uk

I like the short wicker man that was released in cinemas originally. It is good as it is more ambiguous and doesn't explain itself.

Wicker man and don't look now good lineup

More Lee and more Woodward is always the better option as far as I'm concerned.

I see the box on your copy of the Wicker Man DVD has come apart at the top as well. Must be a design flaw. Exact same spot.

Just bought the 95 minute version, after years of only watching the 88 minute version. It sucks that almost all of the 102 minute version DVDs are region 2!

ive seen clips i think of missing scenes... and not sure they are needed, i think its creepy the way it is.. and only few minor things would i change about it...

So long as Nic Cage is nowhere near it they're all good !

Is he joking about a 17 minute version? He seemed to be but I couldn't quite tell!

They should cut a version starring both Christopher Lee and Nick Cage

Actually Britt Ekland's body double was chosen from the cast because she had exactly the same measurements as Ekland.. So there! How do I know this? Because my girlfriend WAS THE BODY DOUBLE. I still have her contract from British Lion, plus a call sheet from the film.

Interesting. I've actually only seen the theatrical cut... I'd known of the director's cut but I didn't realise this was a whole Blade Runner thing with loads of different cuts. But for my money, the theatrical cut is fine.

watch Classic Kermode: The Wicker Man

Mr Beast and Paul Logan get millions of views yet this just hundreds 😞 shocking, love this movie and Kernode!

NOT THE BEES!...

Love Ben Wheatley, but he's yet to make a film that can stand the test of time like TWM. 'A Field In England' came close, and 'Sightseers' displays a level of bl(e)ack comedy that shows he's not beyond a knowing wink. We all expect great things, and if he keeps churning them out at that rate he's bound to make a stone cold classic sooner or later. It's the law of above-averages.

The 2006 one

Why don't they release every version in a box set like Blade Runner?

remember the audition? i still think the ending segment of that movie is so powerful because it was the end of a slowly building derailment of... well, everything tbh. same thing here. the ending of wicker man is so strong because it's the end of slowly building plot gone a bit haywire. in its shortest form, i suppose theres no proper developement. in short, it's about a group of nutters having a bbq and one policeman not having very nice day, so to speak.

I think the wicker man is a wonderfully provocative horror that as a gravity at its core that other horrors simply lack.......and the graphic ritual sacrifice of an innocent man at the end by an extreme paganistic cult is one of the most shocking in movie history

I'd love a short version, but maybe not 17 mins. I'd like a little more Christopher Lee than just the final scene. As for Blade Runner, my preference would be for a version with no extra scenes and no voice over. I really don't care what the director thinks, in this case. He's wrong.

I'd love to see the version where Howie is sent to Summerisle to track down a missing thrupenny ha'penny on behalf of its alleged owner The Poet Ewan McTeagle

Seventeen and a half minute? XD

Without doubt the Nicholas cage version.

Director's cut

Without doubt the Nicholas cage version. (I truly jest) I hate this crapology, the Wicker Man when I first seen it (I don't know which version) was atmospheric, mysterious, it had all these characters which you knew had secrets but no idea what, you did not know what genre the film fit, the film always kept you guessing. Then all is revealed with that ending and I was left gobsmacked. It a great story that would only work on that UK Island setting. So new versions is just money spinning.

Will Nic Cage be in it? Will there be bees?

I prefer the short version of 'Leon'.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm partial to the Nicolas Cage version.

The one with Nicolas Cage

Can they do a cut featuring the scene where Nicholas Cage gets stung by bees? I know it's not strictly part of the original narrative - I just like to see Nicholas Cage get stung by bees.

The Bees the Bees

There's only one Whicker Man

There was only one wicker man..okay? -- Same as there was never an Indiana Jones '4. Never seen...and don't intend to. --

You

The original is the best. If you are a fan please take a look at my North Edinburgh Nightmares channel to see an interview with one of the lads from the maypole scene👍

Just from the video title I thought for a moment he was going to argue a case for the Nick Cage version...

*Wicker Man

Not as funny as the remake but awesome

Does no one like the Nicholas Cage version? what about the Bees?

Mark Kermode is without doubt the patron saint of lost cinematic causes. Hope one day that the 'lost' full length version of The Wicker Man is found, along with the totally uncut print of Ken Russel's The Devils, two films that should get the proper releases they deserve.

I hated the short/theatrical version of The Wicker Man. I first saw it on VHS and I’m pretty sure it was that version, but once I got the longer version on VHS (and later the wooden box DVD), I absolutely loved it. I especially like having the backstory/prologue of Sgt. Howie being in church, being made fun of by the other policemen, receiving the letter from Summer Isle, etc. It really emphasizes just how devout and inflexible Sgt. Howie is and fleshes out his character. In the short version none of this is really explained or reinforced until the climax. You see that he’s kind of a prude, but you don’t realize the extent of his priggishness and moral superiority.

You can’t beat Nic Cage. Which is a massive pity.

It's the 'Middle Version' (that screened on Moviedrome, and later on Sky Movies Gold) that's on Blu.... it's been my go-to version since I taped it off the telly, later transferring the VHS to DVD. It's so much better than the 'Director's Cut' that begins on the mainland (which changes the whole tone and intention of the film for the worse by stripping Howie of his divinity). Christopher Lee 'talking to apples and insects' is what makes The Wicker Man. p.s. I'm an atheist.

Neither, Watch "Kill-List" instead...!

Am I the only one who really didn't like the Wicker Man? Sure, it's not a terrible movie, but I found it looked amateurish, it felt contrived and frankly I was rather bored by it. Not even Christopher Lee saved it for m!. Still, having said that, it is superior to most Horrors being cranked out these days...

Id prefer to see the longest version available. Any movie that cuts stuff out for a theatrical release is probably half the movie it was and needs that footage put back to fulfil the original vision. This has been proven many times. Film companies need to learn to stop getting involved in the directors/producers/editors job.

I'd like to see the longer version, because I always felt that there were character and thematic development issues with the film. Sgt. Howie comes off as really boorish, which doesn't really fit with the noble motivation he has for going to Summerisle in the first place; and a lot of the pagan culture stuff feels shoe-horned in or patched together in the cut I saw.

I prefer the remake.

Just so long as it's "NOT (the version with) THE BEES!!!!", I'm game :)

Obviously the original one.

We all know the Nicky Cage version is better. Stop lying to yourselves people. You know its true.

Interesting argument, but the best version of the Wicker Man is obviously the Nicolas Cage remake.

I watched this movie for the first time ever and it was terrible. Probably the worst movie I have seen in years

I don't know why I didn't enjoy the film. Its horror, fantasy, comedy, musical and the screenplay I felt is not up to the mark, so the direction and acting. Maybe it's because it is a very old film, but it's too baffling and surreal and poorly done.

Nicholas Cage version still the best