One of the only cool things about the 1970s was all the great made-for-TV
horror movies that were released. That was also true in the UK, where they
produced one of the best. Nigel Kneale is now considered one of the great
television writers and this Lovecraftian-themed original definitely helped
solidify his standing. Fittingly, Peter Sasdy’s The Stone Tape, written
by Kneale, screens as part of the Lovecraftian horror series at Anthology Film Archives.
If
this story were happening today, Ryan Electric Products would be battling competition
(and possibly state-sponsored corporate espionage) from China. In 1972, R&D
head Peter Brock is obsessed with beating Japan. To that end, he launches a
massive “pure research” endeavor, hoping his team’s unrestrained brilliance
will produce a providential breakthrough. To house his project, Ryan Electric
acquired the “Taskerlands,” an ancient manor built above even more ancient
ruins. The place has a dark and stormy reputation. It even had an exorcism that
reportedly did not take, according to the research of Roy Collinson, Ryan’s
facility manager and an old mate of Brock’s.
Somewhat
awkwardly, Brock’s former mistress, Jill Greeley, has been assigned to
Taskerlands as his computer programming. Apparently, she has heightened susceptibility
to the building’s bad supernatural mojo. She feels it so acutely, she nearly
crashes her car when first approaching. Initially, Brock condescendingly
dismisses the strange sights and sounds of a ghostly woman she reports, until
they are corroborated by others. As a stubborn materialist, Brock directs his
team to devote their entire powers of computer-driven analysis to the “haunting.”
He hopes the sinister stones of the chamber where the presumed spirit of a long
dead maid appears will hold the secret of a radical new recording technology.
Of course, their investigation will take a decidedly Lovecraftian turn.
Kneale’s
screenplay gave rise to an entire paranormal hypothesis known as “The Stone
Tape Theory” that posits supposed hauntings are actually the recordings of viscerally
traumatic events. Few horror movies have that sort of lasting legacy, but its
reputation really endures, because it is so darned creepy.
In
addition to being one of Kneale’s best scripts, Stone Tape represents some
of Sasdy’s best work (along with his episodes of Hammer House of Horror).
Using vintage Doctor Who-level special effects, he creates a sense of
dread that is truly Lovecraftian. He and the design team made Taskerlands a
very distinctive place that exudes massively bad vibes.
Considering how many Hollywood celebrities have fallen for cults (Scientology, Nxivm), it only stands to
reason some might get involved with Satanic groups. At least that way they can
keep their shrinks, like Dr. David Sorrell. He happens to be an especially good
one, who even makes a late-night house call at the beginning of Robert Day’s Ritual
of Evil, the second Sorrell TV film, which releases today on DVD, along
with Fear No Evil, on a one-disk set.
Sorrell has been called to the coastal beach
house of a patient, heiress Aline Wiley, but he finds her former movie star
aunt Jolene Wiley in a state of extreme inebriation and her niece Loey in
alarmed agitation over the death of the family dog. The good doctor tries to
establish some order, but he succumbs to a supernatural drowsiness, clearly (to
viewers) brought on by a sinister demon statue.
The next day, everyone is distressed to learn
Aline Wiley has committed suicide, including Larry Richmond, the African
American folksinger, who had the misfortune of finding the body. Sorrell is
also professionally distressed, since he never considered Wiley a suicide risk.
Of course, he starts investigating, learning through Richmond that the previous
night’s party descended into a black mass, during which a bearded hippy may or
may not have been sacrificed. His perception of the night is a little hazy—and he
won’t have much time to sharpen his recollections.
On the other hand, Sorrell will spend considerable
time with Wiley family friend Leila Barton. Although the supposedly larky
Satanic circle is ostensibly overseen by Jolene Wiley’s money-grubbing lover,
Edward Bolander, Sorrell suspects Barton is the real brains behind the
operation, which is maybe more serious than they let on. However, he also finds
her quite charming—and the attraction is mutual. Ironically, Sorrell’s soulmate
could well pose a profound risk to young Loey Wiley’s immortal soul and
physical wellbeing.
So, things get super complicated in a way we
rarely see in horror movies. “Loving the enemy” is usually the stuff of espionage
thrillers and Mary Higgins Clark novels, but it works quite well in the Sorrell
universe. Jourdan and
the late Diana Hyland have terrific good-vs-evil romantic chemistry. The
generate a lot of heat, while staying true to their characters’ personas.
He came before Carl Kolchak and Fox
Mulder, but Dr. David Sorrell was successful in his chosen field and widely respected
by his peers. He also tried to maintain a degree of scientific skepticism, but
when he encountered patients troubled by the supernatural, he did what needed
to be done to ease their torment. He nearly had his own series, to have been
titled Bedeviled, but fate and the network had other ideas. At
least we have two vintage TV movies, including Paul Wendkos’s Fear No Evil,
which Kino Lorber Studio Classics has collected on a one-disk set with Ritual of Evil, releasing
tomorrow.
Paul Varney is not in the right state of mind
to buy antiques when he pushes his way into a small shop, but he has cash in
hand. Varney writes it off as a case of drunk antiquing when he finds the
conspicuously evil looking mirror in his flat. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really
drunk. He will not have to live with it very long either, because after
attending a party at Sorrell’s apartment, he is killed in a freak accident (that
viewers can plainly tell was supernaturally induced).
Sorrell did not know Sorrell or his fiancé, Barbara
Anholt, before his party (they were friends of his mentor, Dr. Harry Snowden),
but he takes a special interest in her recovery. She has the support of her
would-have-been mother-in-law, who reconciles with Anholt, in their shared
grief. However, Sorrell is concerned by her obsession with the sinister mirror,
through which she believes she can still maintain a sexual connection to
Varney. It seems to be depleting her vital energy, so Sorrell retraces Varney’s
steps before purchasing it, which leads him to a weird esoteric “study group.”
Frankly, Louis Jourdan ought to be more widely
recognized as a great horror thesp. He played Dracula and the villainous Dr.
Anton Arcane in the Swamp Thing movies, but he was also a terrific genre
hero in the Sorrell movies. He sounds completely credible and rather soothing when
treating his patients, so it is easy to buy into his success as a
head-shrinker. It is also fun to watch him talking spooky stuff with the great
Wilfrid Hyde-White, who looks like he had great fun playing Snowden, the more
prone to accept the supernatural.
