The Stone Tape (101 Films)

Director: Peter Sasdy
Screenplay: Nigel Kneale
Starring: Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Michael Bates, Iain Cuthbertson
Country: United Kingdom
BBFC Certificate: 12
Running Time: 90 min
Year: 1972

In the long tradition of Christmas ghost stories, the BBC is prolific in their festively screened chillers. We’ve already looked at their original run of ghost stories, based mostly on the works of M.R. James, and these shorts continue to be a regular Christmas eve feature for the Beeb. But, back in 1972, on Christmas day, BBC 2 screened a film that became one of their most influential cult hits.

The Stone Tape tells the story of a group of A/V experts setting up a research lab in Taskerlands, an old manor house in the English countryside, in the hopes of discovering a new recording media to give their company an edge over their Japanese competition. While they work, their computer programmer Jill (Asher) discovers evidence of a ghost in one of the large, abandoned rooms of the house – becoming sidetracked, the project leader Peter (Bryant) decides that the team will set out to be the first people to categorically film a haunting. What they discover in the stones of Taskerlands, however, is something far beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

Written by Nigel “Quatermass” Kneale, The Stone Tape is a ghost story that’s likely unlike most you’ve seen. Influencing the likes of John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness and even Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist, it’s a story which blends the spiritual concept of a haunting with science and tries to present ghosts as a scientific phenomenon through exploration of stone tape theory – that hauntings are actually recordings stored in buildings or rooms themselves that present themself to people should the conditions be appropriate. This more sci-fi take on a horror story is very Nigel Kneale, clearly taking a leaf out of the same science heavy concept that formed his acclaimed The Quatermass Experiment and is an absolutely fascinating if often slow tale.

Driving the story, however, is the interpersonal relationships of the characters that play a large part in delivering the drama surrounding the discovery of the ghost at Taskerlands. While the key members of the research team all play a strong supporting role in the ensemble, it’s Jane Asher and Michael Bryant who are front and center as the main characters of the story. Jill is really the central character, a rare 1970’s representation of a woman with an intelligent job, programming the research computers that the team uses to ultimately analyse the haunted room. Asher plays the character with a huge amount of intelligence, but also a fragility which may or may not be to do with an acute psychic connection to the house, and the audience has to watch her spiral into a phenomenon she may not be able to fully explain with science.

Peter, meanwhile, is the closes the story has to an antagonist – arrogant, aggressive and petulant, he’s the embodiment of evil corporate capitalism made flesh and is even more despicable in his treatment to Jill who is established early on as his lover. His secret affair with her is hammered home with his phone calls to his wife and children and his emotional abuse is painful to watch as he manipulates and dismisses her in quick succession, throwing her away with ease when he feels like she’s served her purpose. Michael Bryant plays him with a sneer and an air of unscrupulousness that makes him a truly nasty character.

As a whole, The Stone Tape skips out on being a story about skepticism and moves very quickly into being a story about arrogance in the face of the unexplainable as the research team bite off more than they can chew trying to analyse the spirit. There’s a somewhat folk horror adjacent feel as well, with the concept of a place of power housing something ancient and evil, as well as locals who seem to know more than they’re letting on. It’s also a phenomenally produced story, particularly from an audio perspective, as the haunting is more frequently heard than seen – it’s little wonder that Radio 4 produced a radio play in 2015, leaning more heavily into this aspect of the tale. It doesn’t look too bad either, despite a warning about the quality of the image upscaled from the original video recording, this is a great looking transfer if not slightly fuzzy in places. Having only seen this film on a low quality SD copy before, it’s a remarkable difference.

If I could lean into any criticism other than the slower pace, it’s something that’s unfortunately common with a lot of stories from this age. The core cast project a very “lads club” feel and that unfortunately comes alongside some awkwardly 70’s casual racism and toxic masculinity; but given that the research team never entirely feel like they’re supposed to be 100% likeable, led by Peter’s arrogance and desire for fame over their rivals, this does play slightly into the story.

The Stone Tape was previously presented in a double bill DVD set by the BFI alongside the BBC’s other highly influential spooky production, Ghostwatch, and it remains easy to see why. Despite time having dulled its impact slightly, The Stone Tape is still a terrifically compelling story, a great companion to the Ghost Stories For Christmas anthology series and a fantastic addition to any collection.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Brand new extras:

• ‘Children of The Stone Tape’ Documentary on the lasting legacy of The Stone Tape
• ‘Out of Darkness: A Visionary Manxman’ Short film on writer Nigel Kneale 
• Commentary with filmmakers Jon Dear and Sean Hogan
• Limited edition rigid box packaging
• Set of art cards
• Script booklet
• Booklet including ‘Placememory’ by Andy Murray and ‘Weird Science: The Stone Tape at Fifty’ by John Doran

Archive extra:

• Commentary with Nigel Kneale and film critic Kim Newman 

While the bonus features are ever so slightly sparse, they are of great interest. The Children of the Stone Tape documentary goes into great detail regarding not only the making of and the legacy of the film itself, but also of the concept of stone tape theory and the science behind it. Meanwhile, Out of Darkness is a great run down of Nigel Kneale’s career.