Continuity mistake: Sergeant Howie is being quite critical about the food quality at the inn. Willow tells him that he can have "peaches and cream", and he replies "Aye, from a can I suppose." The beer fills his mug up to the top section of the handle. Brief cut to Britt Ekland, and in the next shot Howie's mug is half empty even if he didn't have time to drink - nor it is implied he moved at all, the position is the same.
Continuity mistake: Sergeant Howie cuts short the bawdy song at the pub banging an ashtray on the counter. You can then notice that in the wider shots the scarf at the neck of the owner of the pub is positioned differently compared to the closer views; a bit of it is untucked/tucked into the collar.
Continuity mistake: After the part when the song mentions the 'toes' of the Landlord's Daughter, there's a bit when a burly bearded man gets behind Willow and bumps his large literal pouch against her rear, performing pelvic thrusts while his hands are kept at the height of his shoulder. Cut (during the song, played continuously) and his hands are joined above his head.
Continuity mistake: During "The landlord's daughter", the protagonists starts to realise something is quite a bit weird once one of the patrons mentions the parts that stand 'at attention'. In the background, Willow's dad walked to the right and is facing away from the crowd, but in the next close-up on Edward Woodward, he's behind him and smoking facing him.
Continuity mistake: When Howie is saying Mrs Morrison is not dead, the little girl Myrtle has both her hands tucked under her chin. In the next shot she has nearly halfway through a piece of cake.
Continuity mistake: When Willow is doing the nude dance scene, the ring on Howie's finger changes from right to left hand and back again.The parting on Howie's hair also changes sides.
Continuity mistake: In the extended version of the film, in the scene at the police station, Officer McTaggart is reading the letter to Sgt. Howie about the missing girl on Summerisle. There's a photo of the girl included with the letter, which McTaggart holds in his right hand to look at. The next shot is a close up of the photo, which shows it being held in the left hand. The next shot of McTaggart holding the photo again shows the photo in his right hand.
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.
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