Ritual (Pinner Novel)

''Ritual'' is a horror novel by British actor and author David Pinner, first published in 1967.

Plot summary

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.

Writing

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. 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.

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.

Reception

Bob Stanley of ''The Guardian'' wrote that "''Rituals 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."

Adaptations

Films

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.

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.

Play

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.

Sequel

Pinner wrote ''The Wicca Woman'' as a sequel to ''Ritual''; the book was published by Endeavour Press in 2014.

References

{{The Wicker Man

1967 British novels
British horror novels
British novels adapted into films
British novels adapted into plays
Novels set in Cornwall
British thriller novels
Dystopian novels
Fiction about human sacrifice
Hutchinson (publisher) books
1967 debut novels