The Wicker Man

Continuity mistake: The blood trickling from Sergeant Howie's mouth in the finale changes length, in particular when he is helpless in a full nelson - in close-up it's almost halved in size.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: When Rowan begins to run away, she has a head start on Howie, but at the first cut he's still leading her with a hand on her back like he was doing when he had just released her.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Punch is forcefully put in line for the 'game'; there are two girls in front of him, but at the cut only one remains.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Three women begin to repeatedly prod with sticks Howie dressed as Punch. In the very first shot, the one before they break out from the group to rush him, the natural light is different, as shown by the different angle of the shadows.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Back at the post office/sweets shop, Howie witnesses a bizarre bit of 'traditional medicine' involving a frog. The animal is held in close-up in a different way than in the first shot - the position of the last 3 fingers changes. Moreover, despite the spoken lines overlapping between shots giving the impression of continuity, the candy jar appears out of thin air, since the woman had just barely put the frog away in the other box.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: In the former churchyard, Sergeant Howie walks past a woman breastfeeding and holding an egg. He looks at two mostly empty crates of fruit; the one on the right rotates 90° between shots as he approaches it.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: When Sergeant Howard checks out the school register, he follows the line pertaining Rowan with his finger. His finger has gone quite a way towards the center of the book, but in the reverse shot the hand is at the edge.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Howie chalks up on the blackboard the name of the missing girl, Rowan Morrison. He then notices the empty desk and walks towards it. Now look at the blackboard in the background; the writing changed - the shape of the Rs in "Morrison" being the most conspicuous difference.

Sammo

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.

Sammo

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.

Sammo

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.

Sammo

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.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: The protagonists are in the back of the post office to see Myrtle. She is using as model one of the chocolate hares. After the first close-up on the drawing, when her mum leaves, the hare is gone, and it is back at the next cut. (00:10:55)

Sammo

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.

Shadow 81

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.

Shadow 81

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.

Visible crew/equipment: In the director's cut, there's a scene where the bar-owner is tied up to the bed. A few seconds before it cuts away, a crew member's leg can be seen on the left hand side.

More mistakes in The Wicker Man

Lord Summerisle: Do sit down, Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent.

More quotes from The Wicker Man
More trivia for The Wicker Man

Question: If they needed a virgin for the ritual why does Britt try to seduce him? She could have spoiled everything.

Answer: He was a devout man of faith. They had to test his virtue, to tempt him to break the ten commandments or the seven deadly sins.

More questions & answers from The Wicker Man

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