Overrated

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

A brilliant scientist is summoned to an old house by her bossy husband to lead experiments that will out-Japanese the Japenese boffins. But the team gets side-tracked in pursuit of the resident ghost, and tragedy ensues.This is as bad as it gets. Over-written, wooden acting, soap opera instead of drama, bad effects, and no point, no theme. At several points there are so many actors nodding agreement, or falsely laughing, you have to think the equity union insisted on maximum representation in each scene - despite the nasty pre-Thatcherite slagging off of unions. Almost everything is redundant. So it's another British haunted house horror - all they can do in horror - but surely nothing worse than this .... Oh dear, forty years later they gave us The Lady In Black. Head, desk - thwack thwack thwack.Overall - very poor story and production, and a black mark against everyone involved.

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.

The Stone Tape is a creepy film about science attempting to understand the supernatural and the consequences that result. A group of research scientists have set up shop in an old manor house. They discover the ghost of a young woman that appears to be haunting an old room in the house used for storage. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that the image and sounds are not that of a ghost but rather a "recording" of that event. This leads to an investigation of the stones that make up the room as possible alternative recording mechanisms. The scientists' investigations result in the unintentional "erasing" of the young woman's image. What lies beneath that image is, unfortunately, even more terrifying.What makes the final scene so effective is that you anticipate it. There is no "twist", just a very logical conclusion based on the events that occurred before. You even understand it "scientifically" but it doesn't diminish the horror of the scene one whit. As the lead scientist walks into the room for one last time, you know exactly what will happen and you understand all of its implications. You also clearly understand how the inherent weaknesses of the main characters led to this outcome.All in all, The Stone Tape is a very unusual and effective ghost story.

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