The Wicker Man Director Robin Hardy Dies Aged 86

Legendary film director Robin Hardy, the man responsible for horror classic ‘The Wicker Man’, has passed away.

Hardy directed the 1973 British film about a police sergeant sent to a remote Scottish island village in search of a missing girl and is regarded as something of a 20th Century movie classic.

As reported by the BBC, the director passed away on Friday, according to a family friend; he was 86-years-old.

As renowned as Hardy was, it was largely based on the strength of that single, lauded film after only making two others throughout his career - 1986′s ‘The Fantasist’ and the long-awaited sequel to ‘The Wicker Man’ called ‘The Wicker Tree’ in 2011.

He had expressed a desire to direct a third ‘Wicker Man’ film as a tribute to the late Christopher Lee who passed away last year.

Hardly previously revealed his struggle just to get ‘The Wicker Man’ into cinemas after the studio declared it “rubbish and undistributable.“ After fighting against execs trying to alter the ending, it did receive a cut and was distributed as part of a double bill with fellow acclaimed horror ‘Don’t Look Now’.

Picture credit: WENN