Reviews
Other
THE STONE TAPE
A signature work from the British writer Nigel Kneale, one of
the genre's true masters. Rigorously constructed, thought provoking and deeply
disturbing, this was made for the BBC in 1972, and may just be the finest TV
horror movie ever made.
The Package
As a screenwriter Nigel Kneale's voice is one of the
most distinctive on the scene, and his best works, which include the legendary
QUARTERMASS trilogy, are instantly recognizable. His is one of the very rare
cases where the writer is the true auteur, and nowhere is this more
evident than in THE STONE TAPE, which unfortunately remains his last work of
note. Kneale unofficially retired shortly thereafter, and although he has turned
out the occasional script in the meantime (including the uncredited original
draft of HALLOWEEN 3 and 1989's THE WOMAN IN BLACK), nothing he's done lately
has come close to replicating the power of his early work.
The Story
I have my differences with Nigel Kneale's scrupulously
tasteful and refined (in other words: British) approach, but I can't deny
the intelligence and imagination that inform every minute of this one-of-a-kind
ghost story. The production opens with an admitted cheap shock (trucks seem to
be intent on ramming the heroine), but quickly settles down into a riveting
intellectual thriller.
A rambunctious electronic research team becomes trapped
in a nightmare when they penetrate the stonewalled basement of a TV studio;
eerie screams frequently ring through the area, and yet a tape recording fails
to pick them up. It seems the room was host to all sorts of atrocities in the
past, and the horrific presences remain as psychic impressions stored in the
stone, which can be accessed according to the emotional discharges of people in
the area. But when one of the researchers decides to conduct an exorcism,
it gives the ghostly impressions a way to enter into the physical world, with
horrific results.
The Direction
Peter Sasdy was the director, and he does a competent,
workmanlike job, but this film is primarily a writer's showcase. It's to
Sasdy's credit, then, that his visuals never get in the way of Nigel Kneale's
words. While the cheesy high definition photography and low rent special effects
date the film, it still plays extremely well precisely because the script is so
superbly written.
Vital Statistics
THE STONE TAPE
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
Director: Peter Sasdy
Screenwriter: Nigel Kneale
Producer: Innes Lloyd
Cast: Jane Asher, Christopher Banks, Michael Bates, Michael Bryant, Tom Chadbon,
James Cosmo