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The Stone Tape (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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20 reviews in total

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Ghost in the Machine, 8 December 2001

Author: James Drew (jamesdrew@economist.com) from Brussels, Belgium

A remarkably creepy and subtle evocation of dread, from a typically nuanced Nigel Kneale script. What if ghosts are simply phenomena that have simply been poorly described? That's just what a team of computer specialists, on the trail of a new recording medium, attempt to do when they discover that the old mansion in which they are conducting their work is haunted by the ghost of a victorian maid. Unfortunately, they discover too late that a rational explanation does not mean an end to the terror... TV drama as it should be done – sadly, we'll probably never see its ilk on British TV again. Still, at least those nice chaps at BFI have released it on DVD.

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11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Dated, but still excellent chiller., 14 April 2002
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

The re-release of this, arguably Nigel Kneale's most effective piece of work, will hopefully give his underrated contribution to horror and science fiction another boost. Made on a low budget, with cheap sets, primitive audio and visual effects, and variable acting from a solid cast of British TV and character actors, it still intrigues all these years later. An original demystifying approach to psychic phenomena which still packs a punch even now. This is intelligent and spooky and a great example of the way TV can be used for this kind of story. Recommended to any horror/science fiction fan with an interest in the history of the genre.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Early 70s TV horror does it again, and the Brits do it best..., 10 June 2003
Author: cowboypsychic1 from Austin, TX

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...

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Although this show is over 1/4 century old, it still chills., 13 June 2000
Author: domino-16 from Leigh-on-Sea, England

I first saw The Stone Tape during its original television airing around Christmas 1972. The show's stories and images haunted me, discussing the programme with friends, I found that they were also impressed with its premise and presentation: A very rational group of scientists confronting the irrational situation of a haunting.

I spent years hoping to see Stone Tape again, then at a SF convention, Stone Tape was on the programme, so I dragged a bunch of friends along to watch. The verdict from everyone was: Totally excellent! An amazing piece of thought provoking entertainment.

Today we have the X-files, so we are used to spooky views of the supernatural, but I still think The Stone Tape would stand up to the scrutiny of a modern audience. This was a unique piece of television.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Getting the Willies, 18 November 2001

Author: grimgrom from London

I remember seeing the original television showing of The Stone Tape at the tender age of 11 and the vivid memory is of being scared out of my wits. I have never seen it since,I don't think it has ever been repeated except the following Christmas,why I don't know. Early BBC productions may be notorious for thier flimsy sets and low budget productions but the acting skillsbase and quality of material has always remained second to none and this is no exception. Nigel Kneale is a master of his trade and this script (which is well worth downloading before viewing the play)shows why.The idea is original and the viewer(or reader) just cant help but engage thier imagination.No monsters,no fancy special effects(although it does get noisy!) ..just good,honest story-telling at its best. I gave it a 10(well worth it) By the way if you get the chance see Woman in Black,also by Kneale.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A creeping sense of dread prevails in this British chiller, 24 July 2004

Author: fishwickn from England

I'd been wanting to watch this for a while and finally got around to viewing the DVD release. I wasn't disappointed.

As with all of Nigel Kneale's works of horror and science fiction a sense of dread suffuses the story; a sound effect here, a casual reference there and it all gradually builds until your nerve ends are buzzing. There are little in the way of visual effects and when they do come they are very much of their time, but the eerie score, disturbing sound fx and Kneale's genius story-crafting combine to over-arch any perceived let-downs in this area - and even then, the first glimpse of the "others" at the climax still remains spine-chilling.

Highly recommended.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
It's all in the stone..., 9 September 2002
Author: gnb from Berlin

"The Stone Tape" is a real oddity - how can a sci-fi/fantasy drama of this high standard go unnoticed for so long.

Transmitted at Christmas in 1972 and repeated the following year, nothing has been seen of this classic piece of TV until earlier this year when the BFI released it on both video and DVD.

Written by Quatermass scribe Nigel Kneale and directed by TV/film veteran Peter Sasdy, "The Stone Tape" is an example of all the elements working together to produce a masterpiece.

In brief, the story concerns a group of scientists staying in a converted manor house to carry out research into a new recording medium to replace magnetic tape. One of the analysts, Jill Greely, has visions of a ghost in the one room of the house the workmen refused to renovate. The rest of the team then set about surveying this ghost and come to the conclusion that it is the stone of the room which has captured the image of the woman and the presence of certain receptive people, namely Jill, has triggered its playback, hence stone tape.

This is a well written and well directed piece of fantasy drama mixing the right amount of moody lighting and music with Peter Bryant and Jane Asher's kitchen sink romance to create something instantly believable as well as disturbing.

TV favourites such as Iain Cuthbertson and Tom Chadbon are present to make up the numbers in the impressive supporting cast.

A spooky masterpiece - go and buy the video or if your budget will allow, the DVD for Nigel Kneale's interesting and revealing commentary.

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7 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Good But Unoriginal, 20 October 2003

Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland

BBC four showed a tribute to the great Nigel Kneale entitled THE KNEALE TAPES and followed it with a screening of the 1972 teleplay THE STONE TAPE . I enjoyed the profile but couldn`t help thinking I would have preferred seeing the groundbreaking 1984 or even QUATERMASS 2 but never look a gift horse in the mouth

I enjoyed THE STONE TAPE far more than I expected but there is a slight flaw to it - It`s highly derivative of Kneale`s other scripts from the past , especially his masterwork QUATERMASS AND THE PIT . Without giving too much away I was instantly reminded of the events of Hobs Lane with a terrified character running away and a minister turning up with a bell , book and candle

THE STONE TAPE does thankfully manage to stand on its own legs and works as a haunted house story . It`s also very clever even if it`s not amongst Kneale`s greatest work though some viewers may be put off with the unsympathetic characters especially Peter Brock , but remember Kneale`s not the sort of guy who paints people black and white . Director Peter Sasdy`s direction may be a little flat but that`s not really a criticism and he does bring a certain amount of atmosphere to the play , check out the scary title and end credits . My only criticism of Sasdy is that the acting is a little over emphatic , which strangely seems to be a problem with some of Nigel Kneale teleplays no matter who the director is .

But it`s still pretty good stuff from a time when watching television was a great experience ,and I`d be very interested in what people who have never seen QUATERMASS AND THE PIT thought of it .

And if you`re reading this Mister Kneale I`d like to say thanks for all the outstanding drama you`ve given us over the decades

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Memories of horror etched in stone, 30 May 2003
Author: heathblair from London, England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

WARNING - ACUTE SPOILERS

A team of free-marketeering research scientists move into their new R&D premises: an old English mansion house. Before they have even unpacked their equipment, the ghostly, shrieking apparition of a long-dead chambermaid besets them. The scientists' curiosity overcomes their fear and they set out to investigate. They discover that the phenomenon has a hard-science explanation; the "impressions" of past occupants have been recorded in the very stones of the house. These "mineral recording" are triggered by the emotional stimulus of anyone whom enters their vicinity. The scientists realise that a new and highly lucrative recording medium has been discovered. However, a particularly psychic-sensitive member of the group delves deeper into the mystery and discovers that the stones hold an even more ancient and deadly "recording".

After watching The Stone Tape again after a gap of thirty years, I realised that I had just revisited an old friend. Friend or perhaps foe because my first encounter with it, age six, left me with lingering nightmares of which I had long forgotten the source. But looking again at this play left me in no doubt. I had found the culprit!

Many regard "The Stone Tape" as Nigel Kneale's finest achievement, although that accolade is perhaps more rightfully retained by the Quatermass stories. However, this television play from 1972 is an outstanding piece of work that bristles with ideas, urgency and passion. It's typical Kneale in that respect. It also revisits one of the author's strongest conceits; that inhuman evil can invade our planet from both the skies above and the earth below. The nature of the evil in The Stone Tape is never explained. That's no cop-out. It's a device which gives the play the unbreakable logic of a nightmare. Perhaps these creatures are an unimaginable life-form from Earth's primeval past. Who knows? They are simply THERE.

Another Kneale preoccupation, swinish, over-bearing authority figures, gets a good going-over here in the form of Brock, the head of the research team. Brock is a grade-A b****rd: driven, driving, callous, greedy for power and glory. A sociopath in other words, but the stuff of great corporate cultures nonetheless. He is also, as Kneale himself pointed out, a very weak man whose arrogance hides his fear of failure and blinds him to the truth.

As with other Kneale works, the foil to this dangerous ambition is a more humane and sensitive figure, in this instance Jill Greely, a computer programmer. Her emotional compassion is matched by her psychic sensitivity, both of which are abused unto death by Brock and the dark forces within the house. In Kneale's book, good guys and gals finish last but always to the cost of wider humanity. Will we never learn?

The Stone Tape is very ably directed by Peter Sasdy, a director more closely associated with the same period's Hammer films. Thankfully, the (tedious in my opinion) gothic Hammer house-style is largely absent here. Instead, Sasdy opts for a brisk but imaginative approach more in keeping with Kneale's writing.

The performers give their monies worth. Michael Bryant portrays Brock with the necessary viciousness and energy. Bryant was a very familiar face on British television in the seventies. I remember him being a quite subtle actor. Here, however, he gets the bit between his teeth and gnaws. Perhaps a tad too much. He certainly makes Kneale's point though. The real acting revelation is Jane Asher's portrayal of Jill. Asher is now something of a celebrity TV chef and soap star, but in this production she shows an amazing grasp of character that goes some way to fill a few motivational gaps in Jill as written. Bravo, Ms Asher!

Today, audiences starved of quality drama are brainwashed into thinking that a bucket-load of CGI effects will suffice. The Stone Tape had priceless writing and an effects budget of about ten pounds. But the effects work! In fact, as I watched the DVD recently, it was the effects that rekindled my childhood horror. The genuinely nightmarish scenes of Asher being chased up a set of stone stairs by a swarm of un-named, malevolent creatures hit me like a bullet. Swaying, shapeless green blobs with red, firefly eyes, and Asher's anguished struggle up those nasty stairs... only to fall, and fall, and fall... horrifying. I recalled almost nothing from the rest of the story except these images. And I remembered them PERFECTLY even as they replayed before my eyes. Memories and images can indeed lie dormant until the right stimulus awakens them. Nigel Kneale does it again!

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
THE STONE TAPE (1972), 16 October 2004
Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

Yesterday I watched THE STONE TAPE (1972), by way of the BFI's R2 DVD. After reading some of the mixed opinions about the film here and elsewhere, I was a bit wary of checking it out but, being the Nigel Kneale fan that I am, I finally gave in and I'm very glad that I did!

I own a few of the 'classic' British TV films that have been made available on DVD, but I can safely say that THE STONE TAPE was the most satisfactory example I have seen so far; for the record, the others were - the enjoyable but somewhat pedestrian THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1968) with Peter Cushing recreating his Sherlock Holmes role from the Hammer version; THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1976), an overly-respectable adaptation (i.e. rather cold and as English as can be) but featuring superb performances from Jeremy Brett and Sir John Gielgud; COUNT Dracula (1977): ambitious, occasionally striking, competently acted but in no way superior to the classic film versions I have watched – and it's also overlong into the bargain; DELIUS: SONG OF SUMMER (1968), a fairly engrossing and surprisingly restrained musical biopic courtesy of Ken Russell but, again, not the masterpiece it's been played up to be; and, finally, just this week I have watched ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1966), certainly one of those I was expecting quite a bit from if largely because of its irreproachable all-star cast – but, unfortunately, while original and entertaining enough (the appropriately solemn but still lovely Anne-Marie Malick in the title role and Dick Bush's monochrome wide-angle lensing being big plusses), the overall experience left me somewhat underwhelmed! I also have Peter Watkins' CULLODEN (1964) and THE WAR GAME (1965) in my 'DVDs To Watch' pile.

Anyway, back to THE STONE TAPE: by 1972, Nigel Kneale was a renowned exponent of sci-fi/horror subjects, all of which clearly demonstrated that his concept of the supernatural was a metaphysical (and deeply intellectual) one. Here, as in 'Quatermass And The Pit', the phenomena that the characters (and we the audience) are dealing with is very ancient – conjuring subtle images of an invisible 'invasion' from within the Earth itself – and inherently evil. The 'twisted', vaguely discernible wraiths Kneale has created are far removed from the 'ghosts on a mission' we find in typical Hollywood fare (a recent example I have watched is THE CHANGELING [1979]) and what is interesting here too is that they connect to the many characters of the piece on acutely different levels – for instance, Jane Asher can see them while others are only able to hear them and then, at the other end of the spectrum, there's the assistant computer programmer who doesn't register anything at all! Another impressive and well-conceived aspect of the plot is how, in the film's very opening scene, the Jane Asher character has a premonition of her own death (drawing comparisons perhaps with DON'T LOOK NOW [1973]) as the blurred company sign and the truck's headlights are echoed by the 'apparition' of the malevolent ghosts at the climax. The ironic twist at the end (the obliterated age-old spectre being replaced by a fresh one) reminded me particularly of THE HAUNTING (1963), another film that has left me somewhat disappointed, and in fact Kneale himself conceded in the Audio Commentary (a relatively dry but ultimately rewarding affair) that he may have unconsciously been influenced by Shirley Jackson's original source novel for that film. But I find the characters of THE STONE TAPE more engaging than the rather bland (and tedious) quartet from THE HAUNTING – also, because as Kim Newman observed during his conversation with Kneale, the writer always took care to conceive a life for his characters beyond the fringes of the main story, thus effectively heightening its level of plausibility for the audience who is watching.

Like I said, the cast has been carefully selected for maximum impact: Michael Bryant (wonderful in a supporting role in THE RULING CLASS [1971]); Jane Asher (the lovely Francesca of THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH [1964]), here giving the performance of a lifetime; Michael Bates (very restrained in comparison with his turns as stiff British military types in PATTON [1970] and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE [1971]); and Iain Cuthbertson (as the company's long-suffering manager) are all completely convincing so that we cannot help but be emotionally involved in their plight – even Bryant's bossy, self-serving leader of the group feels nothing less than human (if a slightly pathetic one) for all that!

My appreciation of THE STONE TAPE has definitely made me want to purchase Nigel Kneale's other BFI disc, THE YEAR OF THE SEX OLYMPICS (1968), despite its only being available in black-and-white when the original production was filmed in color! Also, I would like to pick up the other 'Christmas Ghost Stories' titles (of which THE STONE TAPE forms part) – WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU (1968), A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS (1972) and THE SIGNALMAN (1976) – though all these films are rather too short (and the discs somewhat skimpy on extras) for their hefty price tag!!

A word also about THE WOMAN IN BLACK: I haven't watched Kneale's 1989 TV adaptation but, when my brother and I were in London last September, we went to a particularly creepy stage performance of the show (where one Japanese female member of the audience burst out screaming at several points throughout) and this was definitely one of the highlights of our stay!

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