The Stone Tape (1972)
Review by: Sinister Ornament
Scripted by Manx writer Nigel Kneale (Quatermass,
The Wine of India) who once again delivers good chills by
blending horror and science fiction, but as I find with Mister Kneale's
horror writing it not always the chill you were expected, and thus
its punch is all the more powerful.
Kneale's Teleplay for Quatermass and the Pit is a good example,
a good concept sits at the heart of the plot and long after the
visual horror has faded the mental revelations and disturbing questions
remain.
The Stone Tape has a cracking plot, marvellously intricate
and layered considering the running time.
A group of researchers working for Ryan Electronics are moved into
a sprawling old mansion called Taskerlands specifically to work
on the next recording medium.
A new one is needed for two reasons. The first is explained by a
good scene showing a character describing the flaws inherent in
using tape to record things on. The second reason being Ryan, the
Irish owner of the firm (who we never actually see) but we know
that he's obsessed with getting one over on the Japanese firms (Ah,
the 1970s. Doesn't it just bring to mind lots of tweedy blokes working
away in their sheds on home-made tellies, rather than buy something
Japanese? They all went a bit quiet when they drove their first
Japanese car, didn't they? "Hang on a minute - this is miles
better than my Allegro! Never mind all that mistreatment during
the war - look, you can wind the windows down without the handle
coming off in your hand!" - Ed.).
Taskerlands' interior has been transformed into a set of up-to-date
labs and research facilities - all accept for one room that remains
unaltered.
We, the audience, know this room is going to be important. Brook
(Michael Bryant) is in charge of the research centre and is under
the surface a ruthless bit of work - not afraid to use his staff
to get what he wants. He tears down wooden struts to reveal…
well, not much of anything.
I was puzzled about this on my first viewing. How are they going
to generate any horror from such a bare storeroom? The main features
of this room, one window, one door, steps leading up to where once
their must have been a second floor. A rather bland dank room. All
in all this room is so bland it would give a wildly exaggerating
estate agent a run for his money.
Jill Greeley (a computer programmer played by Jane "Masque
Of The Red Death, nice cakes" Asher) has a vision. She
glimpses at the top of these steps the image of a maid screaming
at something, arms raised up in a defensive stance. This is all
the more terrifying because of the way the camera/Jill is stood
where the scary thing would have been.
To say the team actively research this stone room's history after
this is misleading, they at first regard it as a mildly interesting
diversion and as time goes on there is a gradual accumulation of
documents (parish records, death reports, newspaper clippings, building
up Lovecraft style) all slowly building up to a worrying hap-hazard
jigsaw of reports years apart by different witnesses.
Eventually the research team, having heard ghosts described as a
recording, become interested. Could this room supply the answer
to their research? If they can somehow provoke the ghost into 'playing'
they can start learn how this 'Stone Tape' works. The research moves
into the old room, and the scientists start to learn how little
they know - with tragic results.
Disturbing questions remain at the end when new information is revealed
too fast to be all taken in comfortably, and after a while you want
to watch it again to weigh the evidence again.
Bad points:
The story could be seen as dated by (narrow minded) people who
can't swallow the fact that the characters featured are researching
for an ideal recording system to replace tape. So if the viewer
can cast or imagine (depending on age) himself back before the pre-digital
age to 1972, it's easier to believe the programme. In fact I suspect
there's a group of engineers somewhere working on the next medium
after Digital Versatile Disks ("Damp Vermin-infested Dormitories"?
Sorry. - Ed.)
I am unsure about the effects at the end - which whilst probably
cutting edge at the time now looks a little naff. This could be
considered a bad point, but they occur at the end of the film's
length when the tension has built up a good head of steam. I suppose
these fuzzy green and red blobs could have been done better, for
instance I think they should have left out the ones that overlap
Jill. The best special effect is an actor, someone who can act scared
and make you believe is worth their weight in gold.
Good points:
The script sparkles; characters are well rounded and have lives
outside the narrative.
Sound is well utilised to add to the tension and the scientist's
dialogue seems convincing (to me with my failed science A and A/S
Levels) although I'm not so sure about the results of Jill's computer
programming, but it is brushed passed quickly enough not to matter.
The rest of the technical stuff seems sound. I love the terms the
scientists come up with "Occurrence pattern", "Dead
mechanism", etcetera.
The firm's owner Ryan is one of the joys of the script. He is a
main character but he is never seen, all we get is Bryant's impersonations
of him and he seems a larger than life figure even allowing for
the caricature. Patrick Ryan seems to be on the surface a charming
Irish man with good business sense who works hard (started business
from scratch) and I suspect he liked by the research staff. However
he puts a man like Brock in place to do any of the dirty work and
treats him mean and under pressure. Brock is obviously afraid of
him. So he is something of an enigma.
There are good little touches to look for. Jill's coat on the back
of her chair, delayed reaction by the light when a character turns
a light switch (speed of light must have been slower in the 1970s),
dramatic pauses and lingering looks full of meaning that we, sadly,
don't seem to get in TV or films nowadays.
Conclusion:
Tape may be a delightfully imperfect medium (being just rust on
sticky tape), but this programme shows us just how perfectly tailored
to television the horror genre can be, with a rattling good script
and good performances.
Think of other films when scientists try to study unexplained events;
Amityville III, Hell House,
etcetera, none of these has done scientists as well as this, here
they ask deep search questions that are relevant to all unexplained
events.
"...not some shade who couldn't get into heaven because the
pearly gates were shut." - Brook
"Does she walk when nobody's there?" - Jill
"A mass of data waiting for a correct interoperation."
-Brook
I'd say that The Stone Tape deserves its reputation - in
fact it is hard to believe that its status was once in doubt because
of its unavailability.
When I found out that the phrase 'Stone Tape' is in use today, I
realised how high a standing this programme has because, Surely
there can be no higher praise than for this phrase to become household
word amongst investigators and parapsychologists.
"...Subverts the traditional ghost story, and every moral precept
that the genre supports."
-The Guinness Book of classic British TV
And I never once mentioned Kneale's dreadful script for 'Sharpe's
Gold'.
Directed by Peter Sasdy (Hands
of the Ripper)
Starring
Michael Bryant - Peter Brock, Jane Asher - Jill Greeley,
Iain Cuthbertson - Collinson, Michael Bates - Eddie,
Reginald Marsh -Crawshaw, Tom Chadbon - Hargrave,
John Forgeham - Maudsley, Philip Trewinnard - Stewart,
Jamew Cosmo - Dow, Neil Wilson - Sergeant,
Christopher Banks - Vicar, Michael Graham Cox - Alan,
Hilda Fenemore - Bar Helper, Peggy Marshall - Bar Lady
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