The Wicker Man
The Wicker Man mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Sgt. Howie inspects the register at the school the first shot of the Beltane Term page shows Rowan Morrison's address as 'The Tuck Shop', when it switches to a closer panning shot her address is changed to 'The Post Office'. (00:32:50)

Jeff Jones

The Wicker Man mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Howie is having his supper, watch how his grip on the beer glass changes from three fingers on the front of the glass, to holding the handle with all his fingers when he asks Willow for an apple and she replies "No apples" (00:21:00)

Shadow 81

The Wicker Man mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Sgt. Howie first goes to the Post Office, he walks through to where Myrtle is painting the hare. He puts down his leather case which then changes position a few times during the next few shots, until the scene ends.

The Wicker Man mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Christopher Lee in drag is leading the procession towards their mini-stonehenge, look at the dolmen the villagers go through; the shadows vary significantly direction in the space of a cut.

Sammo

Plot hole: Sergeant Howie is expected to report back to the mainland on the same day he left, and since he took a valuable aircraft with him on his trip it is inconceivable that his superior officers would not come looking for him if he didn't show up. First they would try contacting him on his radio and not receiving a reply they'd send out a search party, and they would do so within twenty four hours. Missing police officers are taken very, very seriously indeed.

More mistakes in The Wicker Man

Sergeant Howie: What religion can they possibly be learning jumping over bonfires?
Lord Summerisle: Parthenogenesis.
Sergeant Howie: What?
Lord Summerisle: Literally, as Miss Rose would doubtless say in her assiduous way, reproduction without sexual union.
Sergeant Howie: Oh, what is all this? I mean, you've got fake biology, fake religion... Sir, have these children never heard of Jesus?
Lord Summerisle: Himself the son of a virgin, impregnated, I believe, by a ghost.

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More trivia for The Wicker Man

Question: At the finale of The Wicker Man Howie/Edward Woodward is placed in a wooden cage high above the ground. The cage is set alight. When the cage began to burn and disintegrate, wouldn't he have fallen out of it onto the ground? As the cage burns, the wood must become brittle, so why can't he just force his way out? (Yes, he is surrounded by the islanders, but if anybody was being burnt alive, and they could get out of the flames, wouldn't the self-preservation instinct kick in?).

Rob Halliday

Answer: He would likely die from the heat or smoke inhalation long before the wood would deteriorate enough for him to fall out. The film also makes a point to show that Howie has given up trying to fight the villagers and has accepted his fate, so even if he could have forced his way out he no longer had the will to do so.

BaconIsMyBFF

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