10 Horror Movie Characters Punished For Their Faith

7. Sgt. Howie - The Wicker Man

Saint Maud
Warner Home Video

As detailed by Sir Christopher Lee's Lord Summerisle, Sergeant Neil Howie was unknowingly the perfect human sacrifice once he turned up on the shores of the Hebridean island of Summerisle in The Wicker Man.

While Edward Woodward's Howie is on the isle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, he ends this 1973 picture by being burnt alive.

For the inhabitants of Summerisle, they embrace a pagan lifestyle based around offering up a human sacrifice whenever there's been a poor harvest. Sgt. Howie believes that missing youngster Rowan has been earmarked to be killed in order to appease the gods, yet it's revealed how Howie himself is the ideal candidate for this murderous ritual.

From Lord Summerisle, Howie meets the four requirements of having the power of a king (see: man of the law), is a fool (having adorned a Punch outfit by this point), arrived on the island of his own free will, and, most importantly, is a virgin.

The reason for Howie's virginity is due to his strict Christian beliefs, and this faith is tested by the beautiful Willow MacGregor (Britt Ekland) trying her best to seduce him. Once the Sergeant had rebuffed Willow's advances, he'd essentially signed his own death warrant.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.