Directed by Robin Hardy. Written by Anthony Shaffer.

Lord Summerisle

• I think I could turn and live with animals. They are so placid and self-contained. They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins. They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God. Not one of them kneels to another or to his own kind that lived thousands of years ago. Not one of them is respectable or unhappy, all over the earth. (quoting section 32 of Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself")

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

• Animals are fine, but their acceptability is limited. A small child is even better, but not nearly as effective as the right kind of adult.

Others

• Harbour Master: Much has been said of the strumpets of yore
  Of wenches and bawdyhouse queens by the score
  But I sing of a baggage that we all adore
  The landlord's daughter.

• Willow: Some things in their natural state have the most vivid colors.

• Miss Rose: The building attached to the ground in which the body lies is no longer used for Christian worship, so whether it is still a Churchyard is debatable.

• May Morrison: You'll simply never understand the true nature of sacrifice.

Dialogue

Sergeant Howie: And what of the true god, whose glory, churches and monasteries have been built on these islands for generations past? Now sir, what of him?

Lord Summerisle: He's dead. Can't complain, had his chance and in modern parlance, blew it.

[outside, several young girls are dancing naked over a fire]

Lord Summerisle: Afternoon Sergeant Howie. I trust the sight of the young people refreshes you.

Sergeant Howie: No sir, it does not refresh me.

Sergeant Howie: Your lordship seems strangely... unconcerned.

Lord Summerisle: I am confident your suspicions are wrong, Sergeant. We do not commit murder here. We are a deeply religious people.

Sergeant Howie: Religious? With ruined churches, no ministers, no priests... and children dancing naked!

Lord Summerisle: They do love their divinity lessons.

Sergeant Howie: But they are... a-are naked!

Lord Summerisle: Well, naturally. It's much too dangerous to jump through fire with your clothes on.

May Morrison: Can I do anything for you, Sergeant?

Sergeant Howie: No, I doubt it, seeing you're all raving mad!

Sergeant Howie: I believe in the life eternal, as promised to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Lord Summerisle: That is good, for believing what you do, we confer upon you a rare gift, these days - a martyr's death.

Sergeant Howie: He brought you up to be a pagan!

Lord Summerisle: A heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope, an unenlightened one.

Cast

• Edward Woodward - Sergeant Howie
• Christopher Lee - Lord Summerisle
• Diane Cilento - Miss Rose
• Britt Ekland - Willow
• Ingrid Pitt - Librarian
• Lindsay Kemp - Alder MacGregor
• Russell Waters - Harbour Master
• Aubrey Morris - Old Gardener/Gravedigger
• Irene Sunters - May Morrison
• Walter Carr - School Master
• Ian Campbell - Oak