The Stone Tape (1972)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Nigel Kneale serves up a revised version of his classic Quatermass plot, without the aliens. The basic idea for The Stone Tape ghost phenomenon can be found amongst the numerous brilliant ideas in Kneale's earlier Quatermass stories. Unfortunately this revised take on paranormal phenomenon examined by scientists, falls short of a satisfactory resolution. A major issue with this film is the two lead characters; one of whom is a complete unrepentant bastard and the other of whom walks into any room with resolve but rarely leaves without disintegrating into a dithering idiot. By about the fifth time the woman falls apart and the man screams at her to get over it, you just want to smack the both of them. Michael Bryant's over-acting is at such a gratingly fevered pitch, it's as though he thinks he's single-handedly moving the entire plot forward. The lack of sympathetic characters makes this film far inferior to the amazing performances in something like Kneale's Quatermass and the Pit serial (1958–59).

I bought this on DVD (not too cheap), purely on the basis of a personal recommendation I read on the Web. Being a fairly old-school sci-fi movie from the early 1970s, I didn't have any particular expectations of how good it would actually be. Some of the effects and technology ARE a bit funny (check out the old computer systems), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very watchable, and pretty creepy. I would recommend that you see this - just be sure to look past the dated effects, and see the story. Very intriguing. It does also include Jane Asher and the guy who played Terry's boss in the UK sitcom "Terry & June".

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

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.