STIGMA is the last of the BBC Ghost Story for Christmas series directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. This time it's a modern-day tale, not based on a story by M.R. James but rather an original screenplay by Clive Exton, the hard-working screenwriter of 10 RILLINGTON PLACE among others. At half an hour in length this is a perfectly conjured-up story about how the decision to move an ancient stone in her garden proves ultimately fatal for a mother living in an old rural cottage. This TV movie is full of creepy atmosphere and subtle chills, and although there's much more blood and nudity than you normally see in this kind of thing, it has a reason for existing and is all part of the story. Kate Binchy gives an excellent and harrowing performance of an ordinary woman beset by nameless evil in the form of a psychic vampire or witch. STIGMA fits perfectly in the folk horror genre and sits alongside other classics of the genre such as BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW as one of the best of its kind.
Review of Stigma
