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. 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. Ĭlowes 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. 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.' Adaptations Films Reception īob 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. 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.

Ritual by david pinner