{"id":38392,"date":"2026-08-11T10:30:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T05:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38392"},"modified":"2026-08-11T10:30:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T05:30:48","slug":"the-cursed-story-of-the-wicker-man-has-a-new-tragic-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38392","title":{"rendered":"The cursed story of \u2018The Wicker Man\u2019 has a new tragic chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong class=\"dropcap big-read-dropcap\">I<\/strong>n 1972, when Dominic Hardy was 12, he left his hometown of Montreal to spend Christmas in Britain. His father Robin Hardy had just wrapped his new film <i>The Wicker Man <\/i>and he brought Dominic along to a private screening in London\u2019s Soho. Written by <i>Sleuth<\/i>\u2019s Anthony Shaffer and starring Christopher Lee as the aristocratic Lord Summerisle, alongside Edward Woodward and Britt Ekland, its unique flavour left a lasting impression. \u201cI have a memory of the sexuality and the horrific violence that closes the film,\u201d Dominic says, matter-of-factly, over video chat.<\/p>\n<p>He would hardly be the only one unable to forget what he saw. <i>The Wicker Man<\/i>\u2019s bloodied and bruised history has been well-documented, from producers British Lion shredding the film in the edit to a belated release in America and, finally, cult fandom. After a lost stash of notes, letters and illustrations belonging to their father was discovered in an attic, Hardy and his half-brother Justin further explored the phenomenon in the 2025 book and companion documentary <i>Children Of The Wicker Man<\/i>, almost a decade after the death of their father.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wrath Of The Gods, directed by Justin Hardy - Teaser\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yXlO68qPeD8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>All set on mysterious Scottish island Summerisle, this granddaddy of British folk horror has endured in a way few films ever do. \u201cIt is a film of major, major ideas that were important in the late \u201960s and early \u201970s,\u201d says Hardy. \u201cI would liken it to so many other products of that time, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/the-beatles\">The Beatles<\/a>\u2026 they just tapped into what was going on in people\u2019s minds in the larger culture, and continue to do so. The film\u2019s pitch between paganism and Christianity is not treated in any kind of superficial glib way, but is really handled as a serious question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It hasn\u2019t stopped there. This month sees the world premiere of <i>Wrath Of The Gods at London\u2019s FrightFest.<\/i> The sequel was spawned from an original idea found in that cache of hidden attic correspondence. Arriving after their father\u2019s belated 2011 follow-up <i>The Wicker Tree<\/i>, it completes a trilogy of films that are more spiritual cousins than story-driven successors. It also comes tinged with sadness. Just two weeks ago, on July 31, Justin \u2013 who directed the film from a story conjured by he and Dominic \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/wicker-man-sequel-director-justin-hardy-dies-weeks-before-premiere-3960537\">died of a heart attack<\/a>. He was just 61.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3961794\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3961794\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3961794\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1.jpg\" alt=\"Justin and Dominic Hardy at 'The Wicker Man' 50th anniversary screening.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1-400x254.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1-696x442.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1-1392x884.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Justin-and-Dominic-Hardy-at-The-Wicker-Man-50th-anniversary-screenings-1-1068x678.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3961794\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin and Dominic Hardy at \u2018The Wicker Man\u2019 50th anniversary screening. CREDIT: Robin Keane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was the one person to have inherited our father\u2019s heart,\u201d explains Hardy. \u201cOur father famously had a massive heart attack at 41 and then had heart trouble through the years, ending in bypass operations. But he made it to 86.\u201d A decade ago, Justin had been diagnosed with heart-related issues, what his half-sibling calls \u201cthe beginning of signs of a hardening of the arteries\u201d. Despite receiving stents and looking after himself, it wasn\u2019t enough. \u201cI think that there must have just been a vulnerability in the heart that looked like a little time-bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of Robin Hardy\u2019s eight children (spread across six relationships, including five marriages), Justin was the one that followed his father into directing, his credits including the Emmy-nominated <i>The Last Dragon<\/i> and BAFTA-nominated <i>The Relief Of Belsen<\/i>. \u201cI saw him two weeks before he died,\u201d says Hardy, \u201cand he was talking about the new scripts he was writing. He was heading in what he called a Scandi-noir direction, and also true crime horror. I mean, the irony is just terrible. It\u2019s on the cusp of that, that he was taken from us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3961793\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3961793\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3961793\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane.jpg\" alt=\"Dominic and Justin Hardy.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane-400x254.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane-696x442.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane-1392x884.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dominic-and-Justin-Hardy-with-their-late-fathers-newly-discovered-personal-archive.-Photo-credit-Robin-Keane-1068x678.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3961793\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dominic and Justin Hardy. CREDIT: Robin Keane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s another tragic chapter in the cursed history of <i>The Wicker Man<\/i>, which flopped on release and left its director, and his family, close to bankruptcy. As <i>Children Of The Wicker Man <\/i>revealed, Robin Hardy owed his former wife Caroline \u2013 Justin\u2019s mother and an uncredited executive producer on <i>The Wicker Man<\/i> \u2013 the equivalent of \u00a31million in today\u2019s money. After he left her, Justin and his sister Bella to \u201cjumpstart his career in Hollywood\u201d, as Dominic puts it, she was forced to sell the family home. She died in 1984, aged 51, suffering from alcoholism.<\/p>\n<p>While <i>Wrath Of The Gods<\/i> is touchingly dedicated to Caroline, Dominic Hardy\u2019s own relationship with his father remains complicated. Raised in Montreal, where his parents met, he didn\u2019t properly meet his father until he was six. \u201cI saw very little of him over my whole childhood and adolescence. But as so often happens with cases like that, he loomed very large in my imagination and my appreciation,\u201d says Hardy. \u201cI might have had any number of reasons to not have a relationship [with him] as an adult, but the opposite was true. I sought him out. And he was very appreciative of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No doubt, he\u2019d also be appreciative of <i>Wrath Of The Gods<\/i>, which pushes on from the concept that Robin Hardy first conceived. \u201cDad had wanted this film to be a [about a] Disney-like corporation that tries to put a theme park in an extinct volcano in Iceland, only to have the real gods revolt,\u201d explains Hardy, who developed a treatment with Justin that took the idea in a different direction, albeit remaining in tune with the Norse mythology of their father\u2019s idea.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3961792\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3961792\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3961792\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane.jpg\" alt=\"Christiane Schaldemose as Anna in 'Wrath Of The Gods'\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane-400x254.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane-696x442.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane-1392x884.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9.-Christiane-Schaldemose-as-Anna-in-WRATH-OF-THE-GODS-photo-Robin-Keane-1068x678.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3961792\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christiane Schaldemose as Anna in \u2018Wrath Of The Gods\u2019 CREDIT: Robin Keane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Situated \u201con the other side of Scotland\u201d to <i>The Wicker Man<\/i>\u2019s setting, the story follows Anna (Norwegian actress Christiane Schaldemose), a grieving widow who returns to the remote isle of Hel to bury her late husband after his suicide. Echoing the journey in the original of Edward Woodward\u2019s puritan copper Sergeant Howie, who arrives on Summerisle to uncover the mystery behind a missing girl, Anna is seen as the outsider by locals, a symbol of bad luck, at a time when children begin to disappear on the island.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis one has more focus and is a very, very serious film. It\u2019s perhaps much more consciously designed to have suspense be built around an ethical problem \u2013 the abduction of children on a small island,\u201d says Hardy. \u201cSo it\u2019s not treated as a game the way Shaffer and Hardy did [the original]. It\u2019s much more visceral, I would say. I think it\u2019s important that it is at once completing the ambition or the hopes of our father, but it is very much Justin\u2019s film.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shot in Shetland, with locals cast in all but the main roles, the film also includes a potent part for Francis MaGee, who recently appeared as the gruff ship\u2019s captain in <i>Rose Of Nevada<\/i> (although <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/series\/peep-show\"><i>Peep Show<\/i><\/a> fans will remember him as \u2018techno pioneer\u2019 The Orgazoid). Calling his character Tulloch \u201cwholly original\u201d, and \u201csomeone who makes the action move\u201d, Hardy seems delighted that they scooped up MaGee, a man with \u201cthe kind of physique and attitude that we imagined\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3961797\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3961797\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3961797\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1.jpg\" alt=\"Tulloch in 'Wrath Of The Gods'.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1-400x254.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1-696x442.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1-1392x884.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Tulloch_3_1.672.1-1068x678.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3961797\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Francis MaGee as Tulloch in \u2018Wrath Of The Gods\u2019. CREDIT: Robin Keane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Hardy, who lectures in art history, isn\u2019t done yet. \u201cThere is a vast community of people who love <i>The Wicker Man<\/i> who are just hungry for new stuff,\u201d he says. Already, a Brazilian publisher is planning a deluxe illustrated Portuguese translation of <i>The Wicker Man<\/i>\u2019s novelisation. \u201cThis will present the novel to a new generation and a new linguistic community,\u201d says Hardy, who hopes that it could spur further translations (as yet, there are no French or Spanish versions) and even graphic novels.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, Hardy hopes there could yet be more of his father\u2019s hidden treasures unearthed. \u201cWe would love to find one day \u2013 we are hoping it exists \u2013 the storyboards that he drew for <i>The Wicker Man<\/i> because he was a very good illustrator.\u201d What is clear is that 53 years after the release of the original, the film remains a towering achievement, as embedded in popular culture as the sacrificial effigy that adorns the poster. \u201cIt\u2019s become a public icon,\u201d says Hardy. \u201cIt\u2019s left behind its origins and it thrives. It lives on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018Wrath Of The Gods\u2019 screens at FrightFest in London on August 28<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1972, when Dominic Hardy was 12, he left his hometown of Montreal to spend Christmas in Britain. His father Robin Hardy had just wrapped his new film The Wicker Man and he brought Dominic along to a private screening in London\u2019s Soho. Written by Sleuth\u2019s Anthony Shaffer and starring Christopher Lee as the aristocratic&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wicker-Man-Wrath-Of-The-Gods_Wickerwitch_1_1.1063.1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}