BBC Ghost Stories For Christmas #8 - Stigma (1977)
It's an original screenplay!
Total Score: 11/23.
The final Lawrence Gordon Clark film of our Christmas miniseries. It has a present day setting (well, it was the present at time of release, now we’re nearly fifty years in the future), which makes it unique amongst the period-pieces we’ve been enjoying. It’s also an original story, and something of a folk horror. Honestly, Stigma (1977) has a lot that sets it apart from the other films.
It is 31 minutes, which is the perfect length, and stars Peter Bowles and Kate Binchy as the imaginatively named Peter and Katharine. These two characters have a daughter, Verity, who is, notably, close to turning thirteen.
Strange muted instruments play over the opening. A red blur comes into focus as a car - something recognisably modern. No longer are we in the time of steam trains and dusty academics. This is a (maybe upper) middle-class British family, moving from civilisation to somewhere more rural. A classic staple from the folk horror starter pack.
A note - I think they have a red front door.
In their new garden, workmen have uncovered a standing stone, buried half in the dirt. In the background, a radio plays, discussing the Voyager mission. Again, we are no longer stuck in the past.
Katharine prepares beef for dinner. Bloody red meat, vivid amongst the muted tones of the house and garden.
Bafflingly, one workman is topless. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand the sentiment, but like. It’s cold. And grey. You can see the wind buffeting the trees.
We see that even a tractor can barely lift the heavy stone from its bed. Perhaps for the best. As they lift it slightly, the wind picks up wildly, and strange music plays. Distorted tunes, like Lynchian jazz or pagan piping. Katharine is caught in a trance. Verity returns from an errand and peers grimly at the stone.
For some time Katharine seems shellshocked. She takes a long time to answer her husband ringing the landline, and even he (who we’ll later learn doesn’t come off as the most attentive partner) reckons she seems off.
Another great wind rushes through the house. Walls creak, ornaments tilt and move. A picture shatters in a frame.
The workmen decide to return and try again tomorrow.
Katharine finds her hands are bloody, seemingly from the beef. It takes some removing (Shakespeare, anyone?).
She goes to run a bath, but finds blood on her shirt and undershirt. Outside, Verity wanders over to the (still) standing stones a little way off. Inside, Katharine dabs at her chest with a cloth. Her panic is contagious, her breath shaky. She sits on the edge of the bath, her shorts askew, one breast out, suddenly dishevelled from this unexpected shock. As Verity patrols the countryside, strange piping songs sound on the air (but only for us). Katharine cleans blood from her face, cupboards and towels. Crimson liquid spatters into the bathwater, darkening it. Cupping her left breast upward, our protagonist sees that little spots have begun to bead blood once more. She ties a gauze around her, hoping this will solve the issue temporarily.
Now Dad is home. Peter smokes at dinner, which is offputting. He also (rather rudely) points out that Katharine has spilled wine on her dress. She panics but hides it well, and after checking the dressing in private, there is no blood to be seen. Perhaps it was wine after all.
Later, Peter awakes to dripping. Downstairs he hears a faint banging and quiet laughter. He calls out to Verity, who is not there. An onion rolls across the kitchen floor, and the stovetop is turned on. A knife spins ever so slightly, without having been touched. It is an unnatural space. Peter verifies that his daughter is asleep in bed, and then returns to his own. All the while, the dripping continues. Blood soaks Katharine’s sheet, coating the floor in red.
In the morning, Peter watches the workmen with their newest vehicle. It has a huge hook. Verity watches keenly too, her red nail polish glinting in the dull light.
The stone is successfully lifted. Peter checks on his wife, and spots the blood. He calls the doctor in a panic, fumbles around desperately with her shirt. Verity is just as distressed as her father.
Outside, it becomes clear that the stone was covering a grave. One man jumps in and takes the skull in his hands (what a complete nutter). They discuss how old it must be.
A knock comes at the door. A doctor - surprisingly quick. The blood is beading again, and he has no explanation (or real urgency).
The workmen discover coins littering the grave (one says it is best they leave these be, a wise move, but maybe too late). They also find several knives, one embedded in the ribcage. This was a sacrifice, perhaps.
Katharine is laid in the car, and Peter drives off, with the standing stones looming behind him. Verity watches as he drives away without her.
She looks over the stone with the men, and comes to the conclusion it is a witch execution. She is read up on this sort of thing, you see. In her hands, she peels an onion, almost absentmindedly.
Katharine has died, despite mouth-to-mouth. We zoom overhead, shakily, like the eyes of a bird, and see that many stones litter this place. The credits have nothing but the wind to accompany them.
Overall this is a very solid original story. It is weird, and suitably tense - a proper little modern British haunting. You are left wondering about Verity, on the brink of teenagehood, so clearly intrigued by the stones, and perhaps by the workmen, too (as her mother seems to think), whose nails are coloured so clearly. You wonder about Katharine, her glazed expression and panicked eyes, her sudden and unstoppable bleeding - a witch’s mark - revenge for a grave disturbed? Peter has no nuance, he is simply an unpleasant side character, one who shows little reaction to an obvious haunting. There are interesting questions - like, what the fuck is the deal with the onion, and, WHY would you EVER pick up a skull buried under a standing stone?
Anyway, as ever, thanks for reading,
Until next time,
H.E.
Saved to read by cheese and crackers later . Love this series !