For a few weeks towards the latter end of 1972, a diverse bunch of actors including Edward Woodward, Britt Eklund and Christopher Lee, found themselves in rural parts of Scotland filming a low budget British horror film.

It’s highly unlikely that anyone involved in its making would believe that 50 years on from its release, their film The Wicker Man, would be considered a true classic, and still feature in the higher sections of many greatest films of all time lists.

This 50th anniversary release, on both Blu-ray and 4K, contains all three versions of the film, all painstakingly restored from a discovered 35mm print, making it the definitive collection.

Arriving by sea plane to the remote Scottish isle of Summerisle is Police Sergeant Neil Howie (Woodward). He’s there after receiving a letter that a 12-year-old girl has gone missing, believing it to be foul play.

His feet having long set on dry land before he gets the impression there’s something fishy about the locals, with all of them denying not only not knowing the girl, but also her very existence.

Not accepting any of their denials, Howie decides to investigate further, which leads him into having to stay on the island. It’s not long before he notices some peculiar behaviour from the locals, that he finds shocking, and that the missing girl is just the tip of something very strange occurring on this island.

With the British film industry producing the Hammer Films production company, the UK had become home to a very distinctive style of horror; from it spawned a number of films featuring the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein.

Robert Hardy’s film however, from a script written by playwright Anthony Shaffer, was a very different kind of horror. It’s not a film that is any way blood soaked, neither does it feature one solitary antagonist, instead having Woodward’s character Howie confronted by a collective, a cult following a particular strain of paganism.

Not only is it a film that sees a clash of ideals, but also religions, with Howie holding onto his Christian faith regardless of what’s thrown at him.

It’s a film that yet again carries a warning that these were indeed very different times, but to be brutally honest, the most offensive aspect of the film are some truly woeful Scottish accents. It’s ironic then that the film declares proudly that it was shot entirely in Scotland, then lacking any authenticity where the language is concerned. You can’t blame the producers for signing Swede Eklund, especially as she had just come off of a hit in 1972’s Get Carter, but there’s no denying the accent was going to be a struggle, leading to her dialogue being dubbed. Unfortunately, the dub sounds like a Swedish woman putting on a Scottish accent, which doesn’t help at all.

She’s not alone however, with many other cast members struggling to make the grade. It has to be said that it’s all a little off putting, giving the film a somewhat unwelcome comical sheen.

Thankfully the unique story still holds up, as does a subtle disturbing sensation to proceedings throughout, where at one point the entire community are wearing disconcerting masks and outfits.

And with Woodward’s sterling performance, the audience is always rooting for him, despite the odds piling up against him the deeper into the film we get. He cuts a lonely figure of justice, confronted by an evil that simply can’t be contained.

This 50th anniversary edition certainly does the film justice, not only featuring all three theatrical releases, but a number of interesting extras, including a fairly recent interview with Eklund, as she discusses her memories making the film.

Fifty years on then and The Wicker Man not only still remains a disquieting experience but also a truly unique one too.