It's no secret that I’m a big fan of Nigel Kneale, writer of such works as ‘Quatermass’, ‘The Stone Tapes’ and ‘Beasts’ (a series I am currently watching). I've been working my way through his works over the past several years and it was whilst falling down the YouTube rabbit hole I discovered an hour long short film called ‘Murrain’, which he wrote for ITV when he had a falling out with the BBC over something (what, I don’t know).
It’s a lesser known Kneale work and formed part of the 'Against the Crowd' series which were short anthology collections that were all the rage in the 70 and early 80s after the success of the ‘Play For the Day’ and ‘Armchair Theatre’ series. The anthology is not well regarded as it was pretty lacklustre apparently but this is one of the standout pieces.
The story is quite simple, a vet visits a small town which is blighted by a mysterious disease that is killing their livestock. The locals blame old lady Clemson who lives in a ramshackle cottage, accusing her of being a witch. The rational ‘man of science’ vet visits the old lady and sees that she is living in terrible conditions and endeavours to help her. However, when the mob get angry they attack the cottage with dreadful results.
The production is very cheap and there is very little cinematographic flair on show, it is all very bread and butter but then it's a simple story where special effects don’t matter as they are not needed- the story is king. Over the course of the hour, I had a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach as I feared for the old lady and thought it wasn’t going to end well. The conclusion is ambiguous but that's all part of the charm that’ll have you thinking about the story long after the viewing. Director John Cooper does a great job creating an effective atmosphere with obviously limited resources, there is an unsettling claustrophobic, insular feeling to proceedings.
The actors themselves are solid with no-one I recognise apart from M from James Bond (Bernard Lee) who has a key role as the landed gentry leading the witch hunt, whilst Una Brandon-Jones (someone I’m unfamiliar with but who is quite well known apparently) is riveting as the accused witch.
Murrain is no ‘Quatermass’ or ‘Stone Tapes’ but for a short 60 minute films with a tiny budget it is simple, effective and worth your time.