The Wicker Man — Fire, Faith, and the Pagan Crown of Folk Horror

A missing child. A devout policeman. An island of music, maypoles, and pagan ritual. Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973) is not just a film — it is a sacrifice. Beneath its folk songs and pastoral beauty lies a story of faith colliding with fire, of repression mocked by liberation, of ritual demanding blood.

In this episode of The Left Hand of Horror, we step into the flames to uncover how The Wicker Man became a cornerstone of folk horror — exploring its clash of ideologies, its echoes in modern cults and conspiracies, and its legacy as one of the most haunting finales in cinema.