Editorials
BBC’s ‘The Stone Tape’: A Scientific Ghost Story for Christmas [Horrors Elsewhere]
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Nothing quite evokes a bodily chill like a good ol’ fashioned ghost story. And as far as the British are concerned, the best time to share them is at Christmas. This tradition can be traced to the Victorian ages when spectral scares came back into fashion after nearly dying out. That is until book publishers found success with ghostly content, including the commercial hit A Christmas Carol. As society continued to grow, so did telling ghost stories during the holidays.
Books, films, and plays have all done their part in keeping the practice of Christmas scares alive and well, but for British audiences today, television has been a consistent storyteller. The BBC alone has endorsed holiday horror since the sixties; an adaptation of M. R. James’ ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad‘, from the TV anthology Omnibus, inspired a new tradition called A Ghost Story for Christmas. For the next decade until a 27-year hiatus, the network’s Christmas programming included an annual production focused on supernatural disturbances. One of which, The Stone Tape, is widely considered the best of its kind. Although not an official entry in BBC’s strand of yuletide horrors, the 1972 television-play matches the same frightful tone.
The Stone Tape starts with Jill Greeley (Jane Asher) driving up to her new worksite at an old, Victorian mansion called Taskerlands. The preexisting dread painted all over her face only grows as her car becomes trapped by two moving trucks. When neither truck responds to a series of warning honks, Jill’s vision blurs as if the walls are closing in on her. She finally panics and backs into a nearby pile of sand, narrowly escaping what might have been a crushing death.
Peter Brock (Michael Bryant), the man in charge of this predominantly male research team for Ryan Electronics, takes both Jill and the estate manager Roy “Colly” Collinson (Iain Cuthberston) to a large room lined with stone walls. While the rest of Taskerlands has been refurbished, this one room remains untouched due to the fact that the contractors refuse to go near it. They fear the legends that surround this part of the house. Left on her own in the same room, Jill then hears a guttural scream accompanied by a vision of a frightened woman on the staircase.
After investigating the house’s haunted history, Peter and his colleagues stumble upon a groundbreaking medium that would put them ahead of their Japanese competitor. Peter theorizes the female ghost, an undermaid named Louisa Hanks, is really an image preserved by the stones in the room. He soon relocates his team to the room in hopes of gathering evidence of this technological breakthrough, but their equipment records nothing. At the same time, though, their activity has awakened something.
The British fascination with ghost stories stems from an innate sense of paranoia toward threats of foreign origin. For example, the Victorian middle class especially felt imperiled by external forces beyond their control. This of course led to both oral and written tales of supernatural invasion and unrest. In The Stone Tape, the male characters are bothered by the idea of the Japanese beating them to the finish line of a technology race. Peter and his associates’ intense desire to win is fundamentally one way of protecting the homeland. In the same breath, Peter ignores his own region’s customs and throws all caution to the wind as he overhauls the entirety of Taskerlands. He kicks in a wall in the ill-fated room, never once asking himself why the contractors are hesitant and why the wall was put in place to begin with.
The nature of the haunting is as intriguing as it is enlightening with respect to the characters’ dispositions. When the researchers begin their recordings in the room, they capture nothing. Yet Jill and her peers indeed hear a ghostly scream in some form or another. A man who played in Taskerlands as a child hears something different when he visits the room; he picks up on the sound of rats. Again, nothing is recorded on the modern equipment. These situations suggest people are hearing what they expected to hear; the Ryan employees anticipate a woman’s scream like Jill reported, whereas the other man heard the rats from his childhood. Of all Jill’s coworkers, Stewart (Philip Trewinnard) hears absolutely nothing because he does not believe in the ghost. The haunting here is what someone makes of it, in a manner of speaking.
From the first moment Jill appears on screen she does not hide her feelings; from surviving a near-death experience to understanding her complicated fling with Peter, her on-again-off-again partner. Even as the other woman in her relationship, Jill wants to feel cared about. With Peter, she knows she will never come first — at best she comes third with his family and job surpassing her. Similar to Louisa atop the stairs, crying in pure agony as something ghastly and unknown bears down on her, Jill is trapped in her rawest emotions. That current state of mind then impels her to help someone else unable to move on from their ordeal. Unfortunately there is not much she or anyone can do for Louisa. As Colly says at one point: “A living person in that pain, you can try and help them. Here you can’t.”
With so much emphasis on the science, The Stone Tape shows signs of sterility and overthought. Conversely, writer Nigel Kneale implies paranormal matters cannot be approached with only logic and technique. There must be heart as well. As seen in the character of Jill, it takes a certain level of empathy to experience the haunting. Even when others hoped to use Louisa’s trauma for their own personal gain, Jill looked to help using both her emotions and her scientific skill. In the end, though, that same sensitivity is what causes Jill’s downfall and turns her into a human medium of sorts. Without her realizing it, Jill is “following in Louisa’s footsteps.”
The Stone Tape sets itself apart from its contemporaries by having a modern setting and story. It does retain the cursory Christmas element — a former resident’s letter to Father Christmas is discovered in the walls — as well as the familiar venue of an eldritch, Victorian home, albeit gutted and renovated. The script is unique as it is mired in technospeak, and it observes a realistic paranormal theory still in effect today. On the other hand, programs in A Ghost Story for Christmas are more keen on not explaining the otherworldly occurrences and letting the hauntings run their course with more emphasis on effect than cause. Much like the character of Peter, though, The Stone Tape dodges mystery and wants answers. Other genre narratives with overdrawn explanations run the risk of lacking in wonder, yet Kneale composed a creative, thoughtful, and intimate tale rich in the same bitterly cold anxiety inherent to all Christmas horror.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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