The Stone Tape (1972)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I've been looking forward to seeing The Stone Tape ever since I happened across it in an IMDb list that enthusiastically promoted the telemovie as a high point in British Television horror. I had only good expectations when I realised Nigel Kneale wrote it... I very much liked the various Quatermass miniseries/films.I don't dispute that this is a very good British television horror/sci- fi production. It's really quite good, but it hasn't aged very well. There are lots of little things that work against The Stone Tape and the atmosphere the movie is pushing. The sets are at times too obviously constructed on a sound-stage, and evoke Doctor Who rather than victorian haunted house. There is also an unsettling theme of misogyny and sexism that runs through the narrative but is never seriously dealt with or reprimanded - it's something that also makes the whole setup incredible, since it's hard to believe that this group of men who carry on like they're on a boy's school outing are seriously professional audio and electrical engineers who are trying to challenge "the Japs'" and their technology companies. Overall it's hard to find anybody to like or care about in the story. Jill is somewhat like-able, but she is all too incredibly frustrating the way she is written as a woman who seems to be overly dependent on men...Unfortunately for those looking for a scare, the mix of science fiction and ghost mystery works to the detriment of anything really scary... The way the sci-fi is worked into the ghost story is interesting, but at the cost of it completely eliminating the possibility of truly scaring the audience.If you're not still stuck in the 70s this will be underwhelming... but it is still appreciable as a product of its time.

THE STONE TAPE has an interesting core idea, and one closely linked to its time. Computers are growing in power and importance, and a band of British scientists are out to create a new form of recording data to make - as one scientist jokes - "honourable Nippon admit defeat". The key is to replace magnetic tape with SOMETHING... but in the process of setting up the research, they discover their large storage room is haunted by a ghost. After the initial shock, they start thinking... What is a ghost? What is it scientifically? Isn't it just information stored in walls? A recording that plays back for unknown reasons? And one that plays back without the need for a TV or a stereo. So they set about trying to unlock the secret of the recording, in the hopes of cashing in on a new recording medium... stone! And they said CDs were indestructible.... THE STONE TAPE has a cult following, and its theory of ghosts being recordings is now called "The Stone Tape Theory". The film is written by Nigel Kneale, who also created QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, and both the concept and the dialogue touch high levels. There's some great stuff with scientists larking about and playfully ribbing the only female scientist. Peter - the leader of the scientists - is also interesting... if only for being one of the biggest a**holes ever committed to film. He's having an affair with the female scientist (Jane Asher) but still fields calls from his wife - and kid - even when Asher is in the same room. At one point he says: "How's what's-his-name? The horse." Pause as he waits for the reply. "Yeah, yeah!" he says, "Chuffy." CHUFFY. He forgets the name Chuffy? And on a horse he bought for his kid... what a ***t! He also responds to any problems by either insulting someone, shouting or - and this is true - pointing a deafening sound machine at it and turning it on full whack. The problems with THE STONE TAPE lie in the fact it isn't really a film. It's a BBC TV movie, and (unlike the ambitious and skilled THREADS) it's one that adheres vehemently to the three rules of filming TV movies: 1. You are only allowed to shoot three close-ups in the whole piece, so carefully choose when you use them. No extreme close-ups are allowed. 2. Avoid high and low angles unless people are going up or down stairs. 3. As much as possible, follow the action by wheeling the camera around rather than cutting shots. This leads to a horribly static viewing experience, and also leaves the actors out to dry sometimes. You try reciting long pieces of dialogue with the camera just looking at you. But, hey, maybe I'm just trying to think of excuses for some silly acting. A couple of times, people respond to seeing the ghost by running away, falling to the ground, and then pulling themselves along and wailing. Asher is one of these people, and she's been given a duff role. Her character is very curious - she's either crying or stonily distant. She runs the gamut of emotions of A and Z. And while Peter is entertaining for a while, eventually I grow sick of his stagy Shakespearean enunciation. I can't recommend watching THE STONE TAPE. In the end, the best thing about it was the idea itself... maybe Kneale's initial treatment would have been a good read. But as a movie, it's far too hamstrung by the visuals and the acting to be anything more than a curiosity.

This was a very nicely executed concept of Nigel Kneale's. Effects, directing and budgets had grown up a little since the cash-strapped days of Quatermass in the 1950's. The premise was that if an event impacted upon the human psyche with sufficient vigour, a remanence of the emotional distress was recorded upon the physical fabric of the immediate world. As stone is usually much more resilient a substance than organic materials such as cloth or wood, the remanence would endure in it longest. Of course, the story wasn't quite that simple. Sometimes there were overlays of imparted memory from different ages. Sometimes history not only repeated itself, but was induced to repetition by an earlier memory. The basis of all hauntings. There were lots of subtle plays upon the idea, and likewise the susceptibility of individuals to detect or respond to these recordings. The question was posed; if nobody could see the ghost walk, would it actually walk? Against this scenario, came a team of modern - what might be called boffins - attempting to develop a new type of recording medium. They stumbled upon the haunting and began to research a method by which it might be commercially exploited. For the most part it was intelligently realised. The creepy borderline between human emotional frailty and the timelessness of its seeming persistence on the substance of the world, evolved in a suspenseful - if rather slow - revelation. If I have a criticism of the drama, it is one of Nigel Kneale's in general. Characters were just too emotional at times. Conflicts seemed needlessly exaggerated, arguments and reactions too histrionic. There were occasions when I found myself muttering 'oh, for heavens sake, sit down and stop shouting', or 'why not just talk this over rationally'. As I say, this seemed to be a Kneale trademark, but I found the lack of a 'safe pair of hands' in most of his work tended to detract from the entertainment. But maybe that's just the way I was brought up. If you get a chance to watch it by all means do. However, I saw it when first broadcast, and though I found the evolving conflict between science and supernatural extremely gripping, the strident characterisation rather irritated me even then. If somebody hands me a copy, I'll give it a whizz. But for the most part hysteria just turns me off. It is too often used as a prop for a poor script.

Nigel Kneale of QUATERMASS fame wrote this intriguing tale of an electronics crew striving to create an alternative recording medium to magnetic tape and inadvertently discovering that a haunted room might provide the solution to their quest. Capably directed by Hammer Films veteran Peter Sasdy, though fairly slow through the first half of the feature and a bit heavy on exposition (and thick British accents). The chilling climax makes up for any initial shortcomings. A must-see for fans of intelligent ghost stories...