 First edition | |
| Author | David Pinner |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror fiction |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
Publication date | 1967 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Ritual is a horror novel by British actor and author David Pinner, first published in 1967.
An English police officer named David Hanlin—a puritanical Christian—is asked to investigate what appears to be the ritualistic murder of a local child in an enclosed rural Cornish village. During his short stay, Hanlin deals with psychological trickery, sexual seduction, ancient religious practices and nightmarish sacrificial rituals. [1] [2]
In 1966, when Pinner was 26, he had just written the vampire comedy Fanghorn, and was playing the lead role of Sergeant Trotter in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap in the West End of London. He decided to write a film treatment that dealt with the occult (like Fanghorn) but which was also a detective story (like The Mousetrap). Film director Michael Winner liked Pinner's Ritual treatment, and considered making it his next film, with English actor John Hurt in mind for the lead role. [3] However, Winner deemed the treatment to be "too full of imagery", and Pinner's agent, Jonathan Clowes, felt that Winner might sit on the project for a long time. The collaboration came to a halt. [4]
Clowes suggested that Pinner instead expand Ritual into a novel, promising that he would get it published. Pinner wrote it in seven weeks, while he was still acting in The Mousetrap. He would write sections of the novel on the tube train on his way into the West End, and even on his dressing room floor. While driving to his agent's office with the only completed copy of Ritual in existence, Pinner accidentally left the manuscript on the roof of the car; it would most likely have fallen off and been lost forever if another driver had not alerted Pinner to his mistake. [4] [5]
Bob Stanley of The Guardian wrote that "Ritual's opulent dialogue, with the sickly richness of its countryside, and Pinner's decaying village, can stand alone from the book's illustrious successor. But, be warned, like The Wicker Man , it is quite likely to test your dreams of leaving the city for a shady nook by a babbling brook." [6]
In 1973, Ritual was used as the basis for The Wicker Man , a British horror film directed by Robin Hardy and written for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. Edward Woodward stars as the policeman, renamed Sergeant Neil Howie. Pinner discussed the book in a 2011 interview. "I then sold the film rights of the book to Christopher Lee in 1971 – the basic idea and the structure of it was used for The Wicker Man ." Pinner has said that he likes the film, but feels that it lacks the humour of the novel. As a result of the film's popularity, Ritual became a much sought-after collector's item, and was being sold for £400 to £500 on eBay. It was not until the 2011 reprint that the novel became widely available. [7]
In 2006, an American version of The Wicker Man was released. It was written and directed by Neil LaBute, and stars Nicolas Cage as the policeman, renamed Edward Malus in this version. The remake credits Ritual as the original basis for Shaffer's screenplay on which it was based.
The metafictional stage production by the National Theatre of Scotland, Appointment with the Wicker Man, incorporates aspects of both Shaffer's screenplay and Pinner's novel, weaving them into a single narrative. [8]
Pinner wrote The Wicca Woman as a sequel to Ritual; the book was published by Endeavour Press in 2014.
The Wicker Man is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 novel Ritual, centres on the visit of Police Sergeant Neil Howie to the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle in search of a missing girl. Howie, a devout Christian, is appalled to find that the inhabitants of the island have abandoned Christianity and now practise a form of Celtic paganism. Paul Giovanni composed the film score.
Anthony Joshua Shaffer was an English playwright, screenwriter, novelist, barrister, and advertising executive.
Daniel Gillespie Clowes is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in Eightball, a solo anthology comic book series. An Eightball issue typically contained several short pieces and a chapter of a longer narrative that was later collected and published as a graphic novel, such as Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (1993), Ghost World (1997), David Boring (2000) and Patience (2016). Clowes's illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Newsweek, Vogue, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. With filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, Clowes adapted Ghost World into a 2001 film and another Eightball story into the 2006 film, Art School Confidential. Clowes's comics, graphic novels, and films have received numerous awards, including a Pen Award for Outstanding Work in Graphic Literature, over a dozen Harvey and Eisner Awards, and an Academy Award nomination.
Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern. The film stars Jon Finch, Alec McCowen and Barry Foster and features Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Bernard Cribbins and Vivien Merchant. The original music score was composed by Ron Goodwin.
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on 17 May 2021. The longest-running West End show, it has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 27,500th performance having taken place on 18 September 2018. Attendees often get their photo taken beside the wooden counter in the theatre foyer.
David Samuel Goyer is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998), the Blade trilogy (1998–2004), Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). He has also directed four films: Zig Zag (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004), The Invisible (2007) and The Unborn (2009). He is the creator of the science fiction television series Foundation.
The Lambton Worm is a legend from County Durham in north-east England in the United Kingdom. The story takes place around the River Wear, and is one of the area's most famous pieces of folklore, having been adapted from written and oral tradition into pantomime and song formats.
Ghost World is a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. It was serialized in issues #11–18 of Clowes's comic book series Eightball, and was published in book form in 1997 by Fantagraphics Books. It was a commercial and critical success and developed into a cult classic.
Beatrice Clare Dunkel was a British author. Earlier in her life she worked as an actress and model under the name Candy Davis. She went on to write novels as Mo Hayder. One forthcoming book, The Book of Sand, will be published in 2022 under the name Theo Clare. She won an Edgar Award in 2012. Her best known work was Birdman, which was followed by a sequel, The Treatment.
The Wicker Man is a 2006 horror film written and directed by Neil LaBute and starring Nicolas Cage. It is a remake and reimagining of the 1973 British film The Wicker Man, but also draws from its source material, David Pinner's 1967 novel Ritual. The film concerns police officer Edward Malus, whose ex-fiancée Willow Woodward informs him that her daughter Rowan has disappeared and asks for his help in her search. When he arrives at the island in the Pacific Northwest where Rowan was last seen, he suspects something sinister about the neo-pagans who live there. The film received negative reviews on Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus calls it unintentionally funny. The film grossed $39 million on a $40 million production budget.
Robin St. Clair Rimington Hardy was an English author and film director. His most famous directorial work is The Wicker Man, and his last project was a film adaptation of his novel Cowboys for Christ, which was retitled The Wicker Tree.
A ritual is the scripted performance of ceremonial action, usually for a perceived supernatural purpose.
Finders Keepers may refer to:
The Wicker Man is a series of two horror films directed by British author and director Robin Hardy. The films are not directly linked to one another, but all deal with the theme of paganism in the modern world.
The Wicker Tree is a 2011 British horror film written and directed by Robin Hardy. It contains many direct parallels and allusions to the 1973 film The Wicker Man, which was also directed by Hardy, and is intended as a companion piece which explores the same themes. The film premiered at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Canada, July 2011 and was released on Blu-ray in the UK on 30 April 2012.
The Wicker Man is a 1978 horror novel written by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer. It was based on the 1973 cult horror film The Wicker Man, directed by Hardy and written by Shaffer. The novel includes a foreword by Allan Brown. The film itself is loosely based on the 1967 novel Ritual by the actor and novelist David Pinner.
Wilson is a satirical graphic novel by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes, published in 2010 by Drawn & Quarterly. Starring the misanthropic Wilson, the book is structured as 70 one-page gag strips, with days or even years passing between the strips. Clowes says, "The story is really what you interpret happens in between each strip." The middle-aged, divorced Wilson, who lives in Oakland, California, finds himself lonely, smug, and obsessed with his past. He is condescending and supercilious, and insists on communicating his alienating dissatisfactions with all those he meets, even with strangers, and most often unsolicited.
David John Pinner is a British actor and novelist. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He has appeared on stage and television in many roles.
Patience (2016) is a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, published by Fantagraphics. A science-fiction love story about time travel, it describes the misadventures of a man, Jack, after he finds his pregnant wife, Patience, murdered in their apartment. Many years later, when grief has destroyed his life, chance leads him to discover a time machine, which he plans to use to save Patience.
Maria Elena Alexander is an American writer of horror and dark fantasy stories and poetry, best known for her award-winning novels Mr. Wicker and Snowed.