The 1973 British horror film featuring a police officer investigating a pagan island community is The Wicker Man.
Edward Woodward plays Sergeant Neil Howie, a devout Christian policeman who travels to the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle after receiving a report about a missing girl. The islanders deny that the girl existed, while their songs, rituals, and May Day customs reveal a community shaped by pre-Christian pagan beliefs.
The film’s tension comes from the clash between Howie’s strict religious convictions and Summerisle’s fertility-centered traditions. Christopher Lee plays Lord Summerisle, the island’s charismatic leader, while Diane Cilento portrays Miss Rose. Folk songs and dances are central to the atmosphere, giving the film an unusual musical identity alongside its mystery and horror.
The Wicker Man is often grouped with supernatural horror films such as The Exorcist or The Omen, but its threat is primarily communal and ritualistic rather than demonic. Robin Hardy directed the film from a screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, who adapted ideas from David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual. The film later became a landmark of British folk horror.