The Wicker Man

I believe the book of harvest home came first, but the film of the wicker man did.....Comparison of the two has long been popular among a few friends of mine who are into both films.....Both rely heavily on cultural rituals recoreded in works such as Frazier's Golden Bough...(and anyone interested in the historical basis of these films should definitely check Frazier out)
To me the biggest differance in the 2 is the differance betw the unwilling sacrifice of Howie (even as consequence of acts he undertook willingly) and the willing sacrifice of Justin. The best similarity is the lead charecters...both the Widow and Lord Summerisle are persons of charecter and authority...and both were brilliantly depicted by Bette Davis and Christopher Lee
It is not our abilities that make us who we are...it is our choices

Its interesting that people continue to make comparisons of these two stories. The other poster is correct in that the Wicker Man came first. It was made back in the 70's. If you haven't seen the film yet, I recommend you see the original. Its so much better than remake. I've seen both and the remake sucked!

Oh, if you haven't seen Dark Secret yet, try to find the original uncut version. I have it and its great!

The film "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" (1978) is based on "Harvest Home" by Thomas Tryon, a 1973 gothic horror novel!

"The Wicker Man" is a classic cult from 1973, & a British film filmed in Scotland!

"The Wicker Man" based on the novel "Ritual" by David Pinner. Though the book was all but completely abandoned (all that survived from Pinner's book into the finished film is the scene in which Howie presses himself against his bedroom wall as a means of communing with the siren-like calls of Willow next door)

The Wicker Man and Harvest Home are both influenced by a 1970 British TV film called Robin Redbreast. It’s on YouTube and is pretty good.

The Wicker Man took its policeman investing murder in a pagan town theme from a 1967 novel called Ritual, which wasn’t very good.

As for Harvest Home, the book is much better than the movie, which I think is overacted. The main character in the TV movie is much more annoying than he was in the book.