The Stone Tape (1972)

A TV movie that has rightly been praised by horror fans over the decades since it was first shown, The Stone Tape is another excellent blending of science and the supernatural from the pen of Nigel Kneale.

The plot revolves around a research team who move into an old house in order to start working on a major project. Things change, however, when Jill (Jane Asher) witnesses a ghost, leading the team director (Peter Brock, played by Michael Bryant) to start investigating the phenomenon. As they use every measuring instrument at their disposal, including themselves, it soon becomes clear that the building holds some psychic impressions within its walls (the stone tape of the title).

Okay, if you're watching this for the first time nowadays then you have to bear in mind that this was made for TV in the early 1970s. It isn't a polished work, it doesn't often move outwith the main rooms/house that the team are working in, and there are some moments that absolutely clang with how dated they are (in terms of the attitudes of the characters and the language of the medium, no pun intended). What it IS is an intelligent and creepy story that takes time to establish the motivations of various characters and allows the plot to unfold in an unforced and logical way.

Director Peter Sasdy is a dependable pair of hands, having worked on many TV shows and a few enjoyable movies (with Countess Dracula being a highlight), and he excels in his role here by working with a great cast and allowing Kneale's dialogue to build and build on the way to a genuinely interesting and unsettling finale.

Asher has to play her character as a fragile woman from start to finish, more receptive to things than anyone else and always a jittery bag of nerves, but she does what she's asked to do well. Bryant has to be the blunt obsessive, doing whatever it takes to dive further and further into unknown territory, which could lead to dire consequences. Iain Cuthbertson, Michael Bates, and a few others round out the main cast, and it's always interesting to see James Cosmo as a relatively young man.

I may not find it the very best from Kneale (as a Quatermass fan, that will always have the top spot for me) and it's not even my favourite science-based take on the haunted house subgenre (that would be The Legend Of Hell House), but The Stone Tape deserves a lot of the praise it has had heaped upon it. It's atmospheric, interesting, intriguingly plausible, and intelligent. And you don't always get all of those things coming together in works of horror.

8/10

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The Witches (1966)

It may not be the worst horror movie ever released by Hammer but this is certainly one of their weaker efforts, albeit one that still just about manages to entertain for most of its runtime thanks to some amusing overacting and a nice juxtaposition of the possibility of evil deeds being planned/happening alongside a quaint, rural and very British village community.

Joan Fontaine stars as Gwen Mayfield, a teacher who has recovered from severe personal trauma (and breakdown) after a spell in Africa saw her caught up amidst a revolt from the locals led by their witch doctor. All seems well when she is given a position in a small, English village, but it's not long before she suspects that things are far more sinister below the surface and that some of her young charges may very well be in some danger. Is there any truth to this or is it just the product of an overactive, already broken, mind?

While the movie (adapted from the Norah Lofts AKA Peter Curtis novel by Nigel Kneale, who has managed far better writing elsewhere) is fairly enjoyable when building a tense atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust around Fontaine's character, it simply teeters over to ridiculousness far too quickly. Things are not helped by the level of acting displayed by everyone involved. Fontaine is all big hair and eye-rolling nervousness, Kay Walsh is far too polite and proper to even be interesting, Alec McCowen doesn't have a lot to do and everyone else is either as hammy as a ham sandwich made by Hammy The Hamster while he wears his West Ham scarf (step forward . . . Gwen Ffrangcon Davies) or far too stilted and caught up in the old-fashioned acting style of . . . . . . . well, just standing in the right spot and making sure that the pronunciation is perfect. Martin Stephens and Ingrid Boulting (billed here as Ingrid Brett) play the two main youngsters who may be in danger, and they at least have youth and relative inexperience to excuse any failings.

Director Cyril Frankel shows no real competence here, and the final reel is quite a damp squib considering the build up towards it. The Wicker Man this ain't. In fact, taken as a comedy it may work thanks to some terrible, stereotypical "am-dram" interpretive dance moves during a finale as laughable as it is uninvolving.

Coincidentally, fans of UK TV comedy should keep their eyes peeled for Michele Dotrice and Leonard Rossiter in small roles.

Disappointing as a straight horror, but entertaining enough for a number of wrong reasons.

5/10

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Quatermass And The Pit (1967)

I loved Quatermass And The Pit when I saw it as a young lad, when it really creeped me out, and I still love it today. It remains one of my favourite Hammer movies and a jewel in the company's crown, as far as I'm concerned.

Things start getting a bit strange when a mysterious object is revealed while workmen dig up parts of a London underground station. At first thought to be an unexploded WWII missile, it soon becomes apparent that the object is something far more mysterious . . . . and possibly far more dangerous. Luckily, Professor Bernard Quatermass (played with great gusto by Andrew Keir) is on hand to put forward a theory or two involving scientific explanations of events that seem far removed from our realm of understanding.

Helped by a fantastic cast of folk who may not have had GREAT fame, but who were all very good in their roles (James Donald and Barbara Shelley are particularly good, while the likes of Julian Glover and Duncan Lamont and Bryan Marshall all do great work in smaller roles), this movie retains such an impact and ability to impress thanks largely to the writing of Nigel Kneale.

Roy Ward Baker does just fine in the director's chair, but any drama we see is always small-scale stuff even while it's hinting at a larger "shockwave". So it's up to our own suspension of disbelief and imaginations to fill in the details just at the very edges of such a broad canvas and, because of the tone and grounding of it all by Kneale, this is easily done. The story unfolds like a standard mystery tale with things seeming very implausible at the beginning and then slowly becoming more and more believable as viewers are drawn into the world and also offered some genuinely interesting scientific theories/background on the situation.

A fantastic TV series turned into a fantastic movie.

8/10

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First Men In The Moon (1964)

Based on a story by H. G. Wells (though I'm not sure how faithful it is to the source material), First Men In The Moon is a fantastical sci-fi movie that also proves to be very family-friendly. There are one or two moments of possible tension, but they're easily offset by the character interactions and enjoyably silly plot.

Things begin with some folk landing on the moon, only to find that there have been others there before them. This news is, of course, pretty shocking and people want to know just who was on the moon previously and what happened. They end up meeting Arnold Bedford (Edward Judd), who proceeds to tell them a tale that involves himself, the lovely Kate Callender (Martha Hyer) and an inventor named Joseph Cavor (Lionel Jeffries). It turns out that, many years ago, Cavor created a substance that could be used to coat things and make them defy gravity. He then used the substance to coat a vehicle that he'd created for space travel and the three main characters ended up being the first people to land on the moon. But why didn't they tell anyone about their adventures, and what happened when they were up there?

Jan Read and Nigel Kneale are the people responsible for the script, and those familiar with Kneale's other works will find that this is much more lightweight and fantastical than his more celebrated stuff. It's very childish throughout, in a sweet way, and director Nathan Juran keeps everything simple and entertaining enough (with the first half of the movie being all about the inventor and his attempts to get things just right and the second half showing viewers the wonders to be found on the moon).

The cast all do a good enough job. Jeffries can do the amusing eccentric in his sleep and is, unsurprisingly, the highlight, while Judd steps up to the mark when required and Hyer gets to play a woman with a strong will and a good heart. There are a few other people onscreen, but most of the runtime leaves viewers with these three characters, and they are good company.

It may not be his very best work, but the special effects by Ray Harryhausen are also enjoyable enough, and also childish in a cute way (though that may just be my own mind connecting things to The Clangers). The movie is far from his best showcase, but it's also far from his worst.

You may need to get yourself into the right frame of mind to enjoy First Men In The Moon, but it's worth it for a one-time watch. Just empty your mind, reclaim a sense of innocent wonder and remember what it felt like to be carried away by the sights and adventures passing in front of your eyes.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Men-Moon-Edward-Judd/dp/B00005UWUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369605319&sr=8-1&keywords=first+men+in+the+moon

Quatermass 2 (1957)

It's the return of Professor Bernard Quatermass, in case you couldn't guess that from the title, in this Hammer movie that is again based on a TV series written by Nigel Kneale. Val Guest is back in the director's chair, after doing justice to the character and material in The Quatermass Xperiment, and everything is in place for another slice of low-key sci-fi drama.

This time around, Professor Quatermass (Brian Donlevy in the role once again) becomes involved in a mystery that involves meteorites causing a fair bit of trouble for those who get too close to them. The meteorites have all been landing at an area known as Winnerden Flats, but when Quatermass gets there (with his colleague, Marsh, played by Bryan Forbes) he finds more than he bargained for. As the plot thickens, Quatermass is told that what he saw at Winnerden Flats wasn't just a design very similiar to his own plans for  a moon colony but actually a plant where artificial food is being made. Quatermass finds this hard to believe, but finding out just what IS going on could prove very difficult. Time is against him, as are a number of people who no longer seem in control of their own minds.

Thanks to his character being slightly less arrogant in this outing, Brian Donlevy fares better in the main role than he did the first time. He is the pursued as opposed to the pursuer in this tale, seeking help from others as opposed to nominating himself as the one and only chance of fixing a situation. John Longden is very good as Lomax, someone who might just be the help that Quatermass needs, and it's great to see Sid James in a fairly straight role, playing a reporter named Jimmy Hall who likes to drink a bit too much, but works best when all sobered up. The rest of the cast includes William Franklyn, Vera Day, Charles Lloyd Pack and Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper. They may not all get to play particularly memorable characters, but the performances are just fine.

It may not feel quite as quintessentially British as the first movie, but this is a fine sci-fi drama with a fair share of thrills, one or two decent shocks (okay, nothing in the movie shocks nowadays, but back in 1957 this could have been gasp-inducing stuff) and a nice development of the plot that keeps it all entertaining enough to stop viewers from picking over the implausibility of it all. While it's not on a par with the first movie in terms of intelligence and tone it remains an equally enjoyable piece of entertainment.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Quatermass-Collection-Experiment-Pit/dp/B000772838/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1366773093&sr=8-4&keywords=quatermass+2

The Abominable Snowman (1957)

I'm not sure quite what it is, but there's just something here that stops me from loving this movie as much as I think I should. I admire it, it's an intelligent and atmospheric piece, but I also think that it somehow should have created a much better framework around the ideas at its heart.

Written by Nigel Kneale, and directed by Val Guest, the movie can be described quite simply as "a quest in search of the Yeti" but that sells the thing short. What the film is really about is the quest for knowledge (best symbolised by the tenacity and good intentions of the character Dr. Rollason, played by the great Peter Cushing) working side by side with the quest for personal gain and profit (shown by Tom Friend, the character played by Forrest Tucker). Obviously, these two viewpoints are opposing ones, but the path through treacherous terrain is made slightly easier by teamwork.

The Abominable Snowman works very well in a number of areas - the cast are all generally excellent (as is par for the course when it comes to Peter Cushing), the atmosphere builds nicely in the last half hour or so, and the material is treated with intelligence and a serious tone. Sadly, there are other areas in which the film doesn't do half as well - a running strand of mysticism just doesn't feel right, and none of the scenes at a lamasery do anything much for the pacing and characterisations, except basic exposition.

Aside from the performances of Cushing and Tucker in the two main roles, Maureen Connell is also excellent as Helen, the plucky but concerned wife of Dr. Rollason, Richard Wattis is enjoyable as Peter Fox and Robert Brown has some fun as the thrill-loving Ed Shelley.

There's certainly enough here for fans of subtle, smart horror to enjoy, but I didn't rate this quite as highly as some other people, despite some fine, atmospheric moments that show the effect the weather and general conditions have on members of the expedition. Give it a viewing and make up your own mind, especially if you're a Peter Cushing fan like myself, because there are plenty of Hammer fans who rate this one quite a bit higher than I do.

6/10

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Abominable-Snowman-Peter-Cushing/dp/B0058CLCNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366578701&sr=8-1&keywords=the+abominable+snowman+dvd

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

AKA The Creeping Unknown.

I first encountered the character of Professor Quatermass many years ago, when I first saw the superb Quatermass And The Pit. He was played in that movie by Andrew Keir and back when I was a young boy I didn't even realise the history of the character. I didn't know that he'd been introduced to people in radio dramas and then television and I wasn't even aware of this film, the first to feature the character on the big screen.

Anyway, this film sees Quatermass (played by Brian Donlevy) called into action when a rocket (launched by a team led by the Professor) crash lands in the English countryside and only has one survivor (Victor Carroon, played by Richard Wordsworth) inside. Three went up, only one came back. Quatermass wants to figure out what went wrong, and what has turned the lone survivor into a mute shell of his former self, while Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner) is also wanting answers. Quatermass calls it a scientific matter requiring a scientific approach while Lomax argues that he needs to do his job, regardless of the unusual setting and situation. The two men find themselves working together as Victor Carroon escapes from those watching him, becoming more and more dangerous with each hour he's on the loose.

Directed by Val Guest, who helped shape the screenplay with Richard H, Landau as they adapted the television play by Nigel Kneale, this is a very low-key affair that plays out, for the most part, exactly as you'd expect an adapted piece of television to play out. There are some nice exterior shots, but most of the action takes place in offices and medical facilities (and also, most memorably, Westminster Abbey). The film starts with a tone of mystery before revealing plenty in the second half, leading viewers by degrees from the sci-fi core through to the real horror of the premise.

Donlevy is far from the best actor to have been given the role of Quatermass. I have to agree with Nigel Kneale, who wanted UK actors anyway, and found Donlevy to be far too unsympathetic and implausible in the role. He's not terrible in the role. However, he's just not on a par with the likes of Andrew Keir or Andre Morell. Jack Warner is decent as Lomax, David King-Wood is fine as a puzzled doctor and Margia Dean does well as the distraught wife of the suffering Victor Carroon. Wordsworth may have his performance overshadowed by some special effects here and there, but he's also pretty good (especially in the scene with him meeting a young Jane Asher in a moment reminiscent of Frankenstein). Great support comes from the likes of Lionel Jeffries, Thora Hird and Gordon Jackson, although the latter actor is hardly in the film for more than a minute.

All of the Quatermass tales are enjoyable adventures, mixing some impressively tense moments with intelligence and a very British approach to potential impending doom. This is certainly worth your time, even if it's not the best one (that would be the mighty Quatermass And The Pit, in my opinion).

7/10

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The Woman In Black (1989)

Remade and released to great box office success in 2012 (that review is here), The Woman In Black is a very traditional ghost story adapted in a very traditional style from the novel by Susan Hill. Directed by Herbert Wise, and written by the very talented Nigel Kneale, I had high hopes indeed for this one. Sadly, it turns out that even though I didn't love the remake as much as some people did I have to say that I found it a more enjoyable experience than this version, overall.

That's not to say that there isn't plenty here to enjoy. It's a solid piece of work with at least one or two memorable scares. Adrian Rawlins stars as Arthur Kidd, a young solicitor who is sent by his demanding boss to settle the affairs of a deceased old woman. This means quite a journey and a few days away from his loving wife and children but Arthur must do what seems like the best for his career with the firm. When he gets to his destination he soon finds out that the old woman had no friends and that nobody will be attending her funeral, bar legal representatives. However, when Arthur turns around during the funeral service he spies one mourner - a woman in black (Pauline Moran) - but he seems to be the only one seeing her. When he goes to the house of the deceased woman to start sorting through her effects he soon finds himself scared out of his wits by strange noises and the occasional presence of . . . . . . . . . . The Woman In Black.

With a cast that also includes Bernard Hepton, John Cater and Fiona Walker, this isn't a TV movie full of big names but every role is perfectly cast. There are even great supporting turns from Steven Mackintosh and Andy Nyman (two of my favourite British actors). No, there's no denying that this is an earnest and handsome attempt to provide an intriguing story with a number of chills on a limited budget. It's not as terrifying as the infamous Ghostwatch or even as constantly eerie as The Stone Tape (another fine example of Nigel Kneale's writing) but it's still a very nice slice of spookiness that makes for perfect viewing on a dark, winter evening.

Director Herbert Wise doesn't do too badly, it's just a shame that the whole thing has to be kept well within the limits of what was acceptable for UK TV work back in the late 80s. With things ever so slightly amped up throughout, this could have been a terrifying experience. As it is, there is at least one scene that still haunts many people to this day (pun intended) and there's a very good ending but the rest of the film isn't all that memorable.

6/10

Sadly, The Woman In Black isn't available at a bargain price at the moment but if you have money to burn you can pick up a copy here.

Thankfully, you can also view it on YouTube for free here.