"And Soon the Darkness" is a slow-moving,but still surprisingly spooky horror film about a pair of women bicycling through rural France who run into a vicious rape-killer.Most of the movie is set on a sunny road,but the settings provide a claustrophobic atmosphere.The acting is okay,and Robert Fuest("The Abominable Dr.Phibes")directs with a sure hand.It's nice to see also horror regular Sandor Eles in the cast.8 out of 10.Recommended.
82 Reviews
If you can get through the first half hour..
Geoff-2120 September 1999
you won't be disappointed. The set-up is very slow and plodding, but the last hour is one of the most atmospheric and tense I've ever seen. I really felt for Jane after she loses her friend while on a biking holiday in France. I was annoyed at first, but then glad, that there are no sub-titles for the French speaking people. Jane doesn't speak French well either, so her helplessness and frustration translated to me extremely well. I felt her situation was very real. The story keeps you guessing about who to trust and who not to trust. Also, the whole movie takes place in one day during the daytime, so the title takes on extra meaning as Jane tries to find the truth. As darkness approaches, she loses more and more hope her friend is alive. Its really cool. I give it 8 out of 10.
Incredibly atmospheric French-set thriller
Leofwine_draca17 March 2015
This minimalist thriller is a one-of-a-kind film with an excellent pedigree; not only is it directed by Robert Fuest, who gave us a minor horror classic in THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES, it is also written by two top television writers of the time, Brian Clemens (THE AVENGERS) and Terry Nation (DR WHO). However unlike the various work of the contributors this isn't an effects-driven exercise in flashiness and action; instead barely anything happens in the movie.
The pacing is deliberately slow, and the film as a whole is largely an atmosphere-building exercise with the only action appearing at the very end of the film. The visceral horror aspects are mainly non-existent and instead the film strives hard to create and maintain high levels of suspense and foreboding. The forbidding setting of a rural French landscape is a clever touch and through static camera angles and creepy music we are led to believe that the landscape we see is both alien and dangerous.
Beautifully filmed and with a strong script - with little dialogue Clemens and Nation make sure that every word counts - AND SOON THE DARKNESS is an exercise in realism. As there are no special effects involved the film hasn't dated at all and could be taken for the present day if it wasn't for the minor trappings, i.e. the old fashioned vehicles and hairstyles. Again the realism is strengthened through the matter-of-fact storyline, with large periods of inaction adding to the experience.
The main emphasis is on the murder mystery aspect of the plot, most of the film acting as a whodunit and asking the viewer to guess firstly what happened and secondly who is responsible. The task isn't easy at first, with loads of red herrings and plot twists being thrown in our way, but gradually light will begin to dawn on those who have prior knowledge of these kinds of movies.
The cast is an extremely small one, consisting of only four or five major characters. This adds to the isolated nature of the movie, especially with the language barrier deeply affecting the situation of our leads. Pamela Franklin proves she has grown up a lot since THE INNOCENTS with her mature yet fragile nurse character and her subdued turn is generally spot on. In comparison, Michele Dotrice (SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE 'EM) is flirty and attractive as her outgoing companion and also makes a favourable impression. Sandor Eles (COUNTESS Dracula) is given a chance to shine as the shifty Frenchman who gets caught up in the events and becomes a prime suspect.
Shots of unkempt farmers staring at Franklin over lonely open landscapes and cars soaring into the distance go a long way in adding to the increasing atmosphere. Despite the lack of violence, murder and bloodshed, horror fans should enjoy this movie through the sheer amount of suspense and atmosphere that it offers. Definitely a thought-provoking and at times gripping movie. A similar offering - but even rarer - followed three years later with DEADLY STRANGERS.
The pacing is deliberately slow, and the film as a whole is largely an atmosphere-building exercise with the only action appearing at the very end of the film. The visceral horror aspects are mainly non-existent and instead the film strives hard to create and maintain high levels of suspense and foreboding. The forbidding setting of a rural French landscape is a clever touch and through static camera angles and creepy music we are led to believe that the landscape we see is both alien and dangerous.
Beautifully filmed and with a strong script - with little dialogue Clemens and Nation make sure that every word counts - AND SOON THE DARKNESS is an exercise in realism. As there are no special effects involved the film hasn't dated at all and could be taken for the present day if it wasn't for the minor trappings, i.e. the old fashioned vehicles and hairstyles. Again the realism is strengthened through the matter-of-fact storyline, with large periods of inaction adding to the experience.
The main emphasis is on the murder mystery aspect of the plot, most of the film acting as a whodunit and asking the viewer to guess firstly what happened and secondly who is responsible. The task isn't easy at first, with loads of red herrings and plot twists being thrown in our way, but gradually light will begin to dawn on those who have prior knowledge of these kinds of movies.
The cast is an extremely small one, consisting of only four or five major characters. This adds to the isolated nature of the movie, especially with the language barrier deeply affecting the situation of our leads. Pamela Franklin proves she has grown up a lot since THE INNOCENTS with her mature yet fragile nurse character and her subdued turn is generally spot on. In comparison, Michele Dotrice (SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE 'EM) is flirty and attractive as her outgoing companion and also makes a favourable impression. Sandor Eles (COUNTESS Dracula) is given a chance to shine as the shifty Frenchman who gets caught up in the events and becomes a prime suspect.
Shots of unkempt farmers staring at Franklin over lonely open landscapes and cars soaring into the distance go a long way in adding to the increasing atmosphere. Despite the lack of violence, murder and bloodshed, horror fans should enjoy this movie through the sheer amount of suspense and atmosphere that it offers. Definitely a thought-provoking and at times gripping movie. A similar offering - but even rarer - followed three years later with DEADLY STRANGERS.
Well-acted, atmospheric British thriller.
chad47816 June 2001
Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice are British nurses on a cycling holiday in France. The two women have a disagreement and Franklin splits, while Dotrice stays behind. When Franklin returns a few minutes later to the spot where she left her friend, she discovers that the woman has mysteriously vanished. As if that weren't distressing enough, she learns from the local people that the site where her friend disappeared from is the same place where a lady tourist was found murdered a few years before. Moody, suspenseful British thriller with good performances, particularly by Franklin as the worried heroine.
Effective suspense flick.
Hey_Sweden25 July 2012
Writers Brian Clemens & Terry Nation and director Robert Fuest prove that this kind of movie need not take place at night in order to be scary. This is about as good as a daytime suspense flick could be.
Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice play young nurses on vacation in France who are riding their bicycles through the country. Things go very bad when, after a fight, Franklin pedals off and leaves Dotrice on her own, after which Dotrice disappears from sight. A stranger (Sandor Eles) offers to help Franklin, but she'll have her doubts about him, just as she will about most other characters.
It's a bold move for the filmmakers to have no subtitles for the French dialogue, and it works in important ways: it stresses Franklin's vulnerability and frustration, and ensures that we in the audience are *not* two steps ahead of her the entire time. The desolate rural locations, while beautiful in their way, also help to create that sense of helplessness. There are long distances between towns, and the fields seem to go on forever. Laurie Johnson's music is used sparingly, and other than a bouncy main title theme that doesn't seem appropriate for a film of this type, it helps to set the mood. That said, Fuest, Clemens, and company know when the movie is in no need for music, as a key suspense sequence takes place largely in silence.
The tension here is palpable; in fact, after something of a slow start, things just get creepier and creepier and poor Franklin, who's absolutely winning in the role of the desperate young protagonist, comes to feel that she may not be able to trust anyone. One particularly great moment has Franklin conversing with a roadside café proprietress (Hana Maria Pravda), who manages to find the two correct English words for what she means to say, "bad road", and when she utters these words it sends chills up the spine; we then know that this area is fraught with danger. We find out that there'd already been a murder some years ago.
Good supporting performances by John Nettleton as the Gendarme, Clare Kelly as the schoolmistress, and Pravda greatly aid in the telling of this story, which delivers a nail biting climax and which in the end has a cyclical quality. It's good stuff, and worthy of discovery or rediscovery.
Seven out of 10.
Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice play young nurses on vacation in France who are riding their bicycles through the country. Things go very bad when, after a fight, Franklin pedals off and leaves Dotrice on her own, after which Dotrice disappears from sight. A stranger (Sandor Eles) offers to help Franklin, but she'll have her doubts about him, just as she will about most other characters.
It's a bold move for the filmmakers to have no subtitles for the French dialogue, and it works in important ways: it stresses Franklin's vulnerability and frustration, and ensures that we in the audience are *not* two steps ahead of her the entire time. The desolate rural locations, while beautiful in their way, also help to create that sense of helplessness. There are long distances between towns, and the fields seem to go on forever. Laurie Johnson's music is used sparingly, and other than a bouncy main title theme that doesn't seem appropriate for a film of this type, it helps to set the mood. That said, Fuest, Clemens, and company know when the movie is in no need for music, as a key suspense sequence takes place largely in silence.
The tension here is palpable; in fact, after something of a slow start, things just get creepier and creepier and poor Franklin, who's absolutely winning in the role of the desperate young protagonist, comes to feel that she may not be able to trust anyone. One particularly great moment has Franklin conversing with a roadside café proprietress (Hana Maria Pravda), who manages to find the two correct English words for what she means to say, "bad road", and when she utters these words it sends chills up the spine; we then know that this area is fraught with danger. We find out that there'd already been a murder some years ago.
Good supporting performances by John Nettleton as the Gendarme, Clare Kelly as the schoolmistress, and Pravda greatly aid in the telling of this story, which delivers a nail biting climax and which in the end has a cyclical quality. It's good stuff, and worthy of discovery or rediscovery.
Seven out of 10.
Bienvenue en France ... You might not ever leave!
Coventry25 August 2007
"And Soon the Darkness" which takes entirely place during the daytime is a fairly creepy but sadly neglected 70's Brit-chiller directed by Robert Fuest, who would later focus on horror movies that have slightly more extravagant story lines, like "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and "The Devil's Rain". This movie exclusively revolves on moody atmosphere and eerie setting, as there are no nasty bits or gratuitous sleaze. The film starts out rather slow but gradually gets tenser, and particularly the last half hour is terrific and nail-biting. Two young British nurses spend their holiday bicycling through rural France, unaware that another tourist girl was brutally slain in the same region two years earlier and unaware that they're being targeted by the same fiendish rape-killer who's still at large in the area. Following a banal quarrel, Jane becomes separated from her friend Cathy. The latter then mysteriously vanishes and during the search for her friend, Jane only encounters suspiciously behaving locals. Robert Fuest maintains a continuously high tension-level using only very basic tricks, most notably the inability to communicate. Jane doesn't speak French and therefore she cannot understand the warnings of people or explain what happened to her friend. There aren't any subtitles for the French dialogs, so even the viewers are unaware of what's going on most of the time in case they don't speak the language. Pamela Franklin's acting performance is very convincing and the music as well as the photography is extremely uncanny. Definitely on of the most efficient women-in-peril horror/thrillers of the early 70's.
The darkness never comes, and that's not such a bad thing.
mark.waltz10 October 2019
Warning: Spoilers
If such evil occurs during the day, it's a good thing that the sun never goes down in this British horror film set in the French countryside where two college age girls (Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice) are on a bike riding trip. After a silly argument, Franklin leaves Dotrice alone, and Dotrice faces a horrific mysterious attack, quickly disappearing. Franklin, desperate to find her friend, questions everybody in the area, but the language barrier and rude interactions with the closed off locales leaves Franklin with little information. Only a British schoolteacher (Clare Kelly), the local law (John Nettleton) and a detective from Paris (Sandor Elès) seem to offer her any help, let alone compassion. It is also obvious that among those three that one of them could be behind it all, and this puts Franklin in great danger.
For a young girl, Ms. Franklin is very resourceful, utilizing her brains to get out of one scrape after another, and not allowing her fear to cloud her judgment. There are violent exchanges between unhappy country inn owners Hana Maria Pravda and Claude Bertrand who seems like he's always in the mood to kill. What could have been obvious and very clear as to who is behind the disappearance (and a previous murder) does become deliciously complex, and while it does become apparent who the person is quite early on, that only leads to a horrifying chase through the countryside between them and Franklin is which is actually more nightmarish than anything that happened in the great outdoors in the wretched "Friday the 13th" slasher film series. Franklin, coming off a great success as the trouble making student in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", is quite amazingly likable and strong, making you root for her the entire way.
For a young girl, Ms. Franklin is very resourceful, utilizing her brains to get out of one scrape after another, and not allowing her fear to cloud her judgment. There are violent exchanges between unhappy country inn owners Hana Maria Pravda and Claude Bertrand who seems like he's always in the mood to kill. What could have been obvious and very clear as to who is behind the disappearance (and a previous murder) does become deliciously complex, and while it does become apparent who the person is quite early on, that only leads to a horrifying chase through the countryside between them and Franklin is which is actually more nightmarish than anything that happened in the great outdoors in the wretched "Friday the 13th" slasher film series. Franklin, coming off a great success as the trouble making student in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", is quite amazingly likable and strong, making you root for her the entire way.
a solid thriller that keps you guessing
quaseprovisorio22 April 2020
And soon the darkness... is above all an affective film. it mixes one fear : the fear of being in an unknown place with the fear of being alone and helpless. and exploits them well because we can feel the fear in the main character. due to the lack of knowledge of french, through the landscapes with no end, through the music and mostly because she doesn't know who can trust.
usually in movies with few characters you can ditch the suspects one by one and reach a conclusion that, if not right, at least can be close to the original culprit. here is harder because you don't have access to the backstories of this characters - you're watching this through the eyes of a foreigner, of someone that's knowing them for the first time. that makes also harder for the movie to give clues because you never know if they are honest or just tricking her. so, doesn't matter how many clues can give you because you can't distinguish lie from truth.
the movie doesn't uses a lot of locations: one road, two coffees, a pinch of the woods, the small police station where the police lives. but mixes cleverly those environments and doesn't make you comfortable on any of them. you're living the film as a foreigner, through the eyes of the outsiders. the music also helps creating that ambiance.
i wouldn't say i loved the movie because now a days some stories like this are better told, but for a movie from 1970 with a low budget and few characters...this does show you don't need a lot of resources to make a clever film. you just need a nice script and know how to create an environment where the script works. and actors that can do the part too. i really enjoyed it and it did keep me engaged because wel.. you don't know what really happened and who did it.
it's a very interesting gem that should be rediscovered. and also easier to access. deserves full attention as the very good thriller that it is.
usually in movies with few characters you can ditch the suspects one by one and reach a conclusion that, if not right, at least can be close to the original culprit. here is harder because you don't have access to the backstories of this characters - you're watching this through the eyes of a foreigner, of someone that's knowing them for the first time. that makes also harder for the movie to give clues because you never know if they are honest or just tricking her. so, doesn't matter how many clues can give you because you can't distinguish lie from truth.
the movie doesn't uses a lot of locations: one road, two coffees, a pinch of the woods, the small police station where the police lives. but mixes cleverly those environments and doesn't make you comfortable on any of them. you're living the film as a foreigner, through the eyes of the outsiders. the music also helps creating that ambiance.
i wouldn't say i loved the movie because now a days some stories like this are better told, but for a movie from 1970 with a low budget and few characters...this does show you don't need a lot of resources to make a clever film. you just need a nice script and know how to create an environment where the script works. and actors that can do the part too. i really enjoyed it and it did keep me engaged because wel.. you don't know what really happened and who did it.
it's a very interesting gem that should be rediscovered. and also easier to access. deserves full attention as the very good thriller that it is.
A WELL CRAFTED LITTLE GEM
EDDIEBLKMR12 March 2004
I remember seeing this on late night television years ago, and had very fond memories of it. Recently i caught up with it on dvd, and found that my memory had not let me down. Every aspect of this film demonstrates film making talent of the very highest order. The script is superb, keeping you guessing right up to the end. The acting of the leads is faultless, but the icing on the cake is the amazing direction by Fuest. He manages to turn the open, sunny, French countryside into a nightmare landscape. Gradually cranking up the tension, alienation, and paranoia with the skill of a master. He really should have been a massively successful director. Pure craftsmanship, with a very creepy edge.
Unambitious Thriller That Became Something Of A Minor Classic
Theo Robertson4 August 2013
Two young English girls Jane and Cathy enjoy a cycling trip across France . Stopping at a secluded spot the two girls get in to an argument leading Jane to leave Cathy alone . After hearing from the manageress of a nearby café that the road is dangerous Jane returns only to find Cathy has disappeared
This is one of these movies that you remember seeing years ago for the very first time thinking it's a great movie only to be disappointed after seeing it again . The obvious reason for this is because it builds up an air of mystery as to what's happened to Cathy then when it is revealed you're left thinking who the bad guy behind it is . Co-written by Brian Clemens who turned THE AVENGERS from straight laced thriller in to psychedelic insanity and Terry Nation who gave the Universe Daleks , Davros and BLAKES 7 you might expect the story to have a bit more flourish or excitement but this isn't the thinking behind it and does work very well because of this
Let me explain this by stating there's no monsters in the Universe apart from the very human ones that inhabit this planet . It would be all too easy for the production team to put a lot of action and excitement in to but everything plays out in a very realistic manner . Cathy finding herself alone in a lonely secluded spot and knowing there is an unseen and mortal menace a few feet away in the bushes is more chilling than most films featuring werewolves or alien spaceships and it's this melding of menace and the mundane that makes this movie stick in the memory
Another interesting point is that Jane can speak some French but it's the kind of phrasebook French that is required for ordering a drink in the café but not enough to hold abstract conversations such as " Excuse miss but this stretch of road is full of dangers and it's a very bad idea if your friend is sunbathing and she's drying her underwear on a bush " and it makes a nice change that people suddenly don't speak English because of plot contrivances . Interesting too that you can't accuse the film of Little Englander xenophobia since apart from Jane and Cathy the only other English character is a schoolmistress who comes across as a blatant lesbian who is every bit as creepy as the French male characters
One rather distasteful point about the film that might make it rather dated is that the two English girls are very skimply dressed . Of course this might not mean anything at all but one wonders how many men would misinterpreted this as meaning " they're up for it " and it's not a film you would recommend to feminists , not unless you're reinforcing the opinion that all men are rapists and there doesn't seem to be any irony to the sexually provocative - unconscious or otherwise - mannerism of the two young women
Despite this flaw AND SOON THE DARKNESS is a tense and exciting mystery thriller made on the cheap but made so well it's very compelling first time you see it . The downside to all this is that it's a film that's only produced to be seen once by the audience . But how many expensive Hollywood blockbusters have you seen that don't even deserve to be seen once ?
This is one of these movies that you remember seeing years ago for the very first time thinking it's a great movie only to be disappointed after seeing it again . The obvious reason for this is because it builds up an air of mystery as to what's happened to Cathy then when it is revealed you're left thinking who the bad guy behind it is . Co-written by Brian Clemens who turned THE AVENGERS from straight laced thriller in to psychedelic insanity and Terry Nation who gave the Universe Daleks , Davros and BLAKES 7 you might expect the story to have a bit more flourish or excitement but this isn't the thinking behind it and does work very well because of this
Let me explain this by stating there's no monsters in the Universe apart from the very human ones that inhabit this planet . It would be all too easy for the production team to put a lot of action and excitement in to but everything plays out in a very realistic manner . Cathy finding herself alone in a lonely secluded spot and knowing there is an unseen and mortal menace a few feet away in the bushes is more chilling than most films featuring werewolves or alien spaceships and it's this melding of menace and the mundane that makes this movie stick in the memory
Another interesting point is that Jane can speak some French but it's the kind of phrasebook French that is required for ordering a drink in the café but not enough to hold abstract conversations such as " Excuse miss but this stretch of road is full of dangers and it's a very bad idea if your friend is sunbathing and she's drying her underwear on a bush " and it makes a nice change that people suddenly don't speak English because of plot contrivances . Interesting too that you can't accuse the film of Little Englander xenophobia since apart from Jane and Cathy the only other English character is a schoolmistress who comes across as a blatant lesbian who is every bit as creepy as the French male characters
One rather distasteful point about the film that might make it rather dated is that the two English girls are very skimply dressed . Of course this might not mean anything at all but one wonders how many men would misinterpreted this as meaning " they're up for it " and it's not a film you would recommend to feminists , not unless you're reinforcing the opinion that all men are rapists and there doesn't seem to be any irony to the sexually provocative - unconscious or otherwise - mannerism of the two young women
Despite this flaw AND SOON THE DARKNESS is a tense and exciting mystery thriller made on the cheap but made so well it's very compelling first time you see it . The downside to all this is that it's a film that's only produced to be seen once by the audience . But how many expensive Hollywood blockbusters have you seen that don't even deserve to be seen once ?
And soon the nonsensical behavior begins...
pstumpf3 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Two English girls on a biking holiday ride through a rural portion of France, populated exclusively by sinister people. Somewhat too cleverly plotted film, with a huge red herring: one of the main characters acts in a completely irrational way simply to create confusion for the audience and lead into a kind of trick ending. Perhaps Cathy's extreme reticence is meant to be typical British reserve, but she eventually seems too self-possessed to be credible. And why bother to move the victim, when the entire location is so remote? Granted, it's well-directed and suspenseful throughout, but once it's over, the irrationalities undercut the accomplishment.
Vacation spoiled
hoodcsa1 August 2005
I really liked this film. Although the twist ending was not exactly unexpected, the story kept me guessing. Beautifully shot with lots of very effective scenery adding to the overall feel. Director Robert Fuest's work is evocative of Hitchcock. The use of French actors and the absence of subtitles is a smart move, giving the viewer a sense of the young girl's confusion and mounting fear. The location filming in France pays off beautifully as the movie had an otherworldly feel to it. Pamela Franklin stars and it quit good. She is asked to tell a lot of story with only her expressions and she does so splendidly. Fuest trusted her performance and it paid off. Solid story, good acting and a firm, polished hand at the directorial helm make this an underrated thriller.
Some Good Moments
Caps Fan22 August 2001
This is an interesting little British thriller. The story is rather slow and its development a bit on the routine side. That said, however, a very pleasurable suspense is built up, thanks in part, I think, to the action's taking place mainly along a short stretch of lonely road. A number of effective shock moments (one made me shout!) and good acting don't do any harm either. Recommended - this one requires a bit of patience, but it's worth the trouble.
Exceptionally boring film. (SPOILERS)
gridoon15 March 2002
Warning: Spoilers
Moderately interesting but maddeningly slow and ultimately sleep-inducing thriller, set in the desolate highways of rural France. Starts off promisingly enough, but then it takes AGES for anything important to happen. The last 30 minutes are essentially a looooong, silent chase, and we are about 90% sure that the supposed villain is not really the villain. The remaining 10% is not enough to make the chase suspenseful. (*1/2)
Great build up
stevelen30 January 2003
I first saw this film in the mid 70's one night when I was babysitting.I found it thrilling and deliciously scary.There's something very natural about the girls performances.A shame Pamela Franklin retired from acting some years ago. Great to see it on DVD.Have to get a copy!.It pops up now and then on late night tv.Well worth a look.
Daylight Dread.
hitchcockthelegend19 November 2013
Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) are a couple of British nurses taking a bicycle vacation through rural France. When they have an argument, Jane storms off ahead leaving Cathy sunbathing on the grass. Later on Jane returns but can find no trace of Cathy, stuck in a foreign land and unable to speak the language, Jane soon finds herself in grave danger as she searches frantically for her lost friend.
The title is about the protagonist trying to resolve a mystery/terror situation before the darkness falls. Film is completely set in daylight time, with a very limited amount of characters, and no extended bouts of dialogue. Looking at it from the outside, you would not be thought of as ignorant for expecting this to not be frightening or thrilling, yet it is both. The isolation of the countryside is a foreboding presence here, which coupled with Jane's isolation as a foreigner, makes for edgy atmospherics.
Director Robert Fuest is in no hurry what so ever to start turning the screws, so the first half of pic is very slow, but patience is rewarded once the girls argue and split up. Then Fuest starts introducing peripheral characters, and writers Brian Clemens and Terry Nation dangle bits of dark information into the plot, about the area and its history. The mystery element is amped up high, the perpetrator could quite easily be anyone who Jane meets, and then we lurch into paranoia and peril when all will be revealed in a wave of daylight dreadfulness.
Critics were (are) very much divided about the picture, complaints ranging from it being nasty and distasteful, to it being too laborious for its own good. But it has a very good fan base, and it certainly does what it sets out to do by putting those wiling to invest fully in it on to the edge of their seats. Recommended on proviso you are prepared to bare with it for the first 45 minutes. 7/10
The title is about the protagonist trying to resolve a mystery/terror situation before the darkness falls. Film is completely set in daylight time, with a very limited amount of characters, and no extended bouts of dialogue. Looking at it from the outside, you would not be thought of as ignorant for expecting this to not be frightening or thrilling, yet it is both. The isolation of the countryside is a foreboding presence here, which coupled with Jane's isolation as a foreigner, makes for edgy atmospherics.
Director Robert Fuest is in no hurry what so ever to start turning the screws, so the first half of pic is very slow, but patience is rewarded once the girls argue and split up. Then Fuest starts introducing peripheral characters, and writers Brian Clemens and Terry Nation dangle bits of dark information into the plot, about the area and its history. The mystery element is amped up high, the perpetrator could quite easily be anyone who Jane meets, and then we lurch into paranoia and peril when all will be revealed in a wave of daylight dreadfulness.
Critics were (are) very much divided about the picture, complaints ranging from it being nasty and distasteful, to it being too laborious for its own good. But it has a very good fan base, and it certainly does what it sets out to do by putting those wiling to invest fully in it on to the edge of their seats. Recommended on proviso you are prepared to bare with it for the first 45 minutes. 7/10
Sun drenched nightmare
acidburn-1017 December 2014
This is an eerie little 70's movie, where 2 nurses go on a cycling holiday in France, then cross paths with a strange man, then one of the girls disappear and it's up to the other one to try and find her and finding herself alone and isolated.
The scenario is quite frightening where the young girl is all alone in a strange country, and that carefully builds up the atmosphere and where she learns about the local disappearances. All this takes place in the daytime which is rather different as many movies uses the nighttime to create scares and chills. Even the wooded area is very chilling when one of the girls is all alone, you straight away have the feeling that she's being watched and the fact that it doesn't show a glimpse of anyone is in fact like being trapped in a nightmare.
But the pacing is rather slow and very talky and the fact that you don't know what any of the villagers are saying does get annoying. I do understand why they did it, too put the viewer in the girl's shoes, but even when she's not in the scene and just them, you still don't know what's going on. But the mystery aspect of this movie is very well crafted with several red herrings and suspects are well handled. and the scenes when she has a run in with the stranger does keep you guessing and guessing until the final climax, which wasn't entirely that satisfying and I kinda guessed the outcome of the friend.
The performances were very brilliantly cast, both the young female leads Michele Dotrice and Pamela Franklin were both spot on and Sandor Eles was perfectly convincing as the mysterious stranger.
All in all a very good mystery thriller, but don't go expecting anything that thrilling though as it's rather slowly paced, but had great atmoshere and tension.
The scenario is quite frightening where the young girl is all alone in a strange country, and that carefully builds up the atmosphere and where she learns about the local disappearances. All this takes place in the daytime which is rather different as many movies uses the nighttime to create scares and chills. Even the wooded area is very chilling when one of the girls is all alone, you straight away have the feeling that she's being watched and the fact that it doesn't show a glimpse of anyone is in fact like being trapped in a nightmare.
But the pacing is rather slow and very talky and the fact that you don't know what any of the villagers are saying does get annoying. I do understand why they did it, too put the viewer in the girl's shoes, but even when she's not in the scene and just them, you still don't know what's going on. But the mystery aspect of this movie is very well crafted with several red herrings and suspects are well handled. and the scenes when she has a run in with the stranger does keep you guessing and guessing until the final climax, which wasn't entirely that satisfying and I kinda guessed the outcome of the friend.
The performances were very brilliantly cast, both the young female leads Michele Dotrice and Pamela Franklin were both spot on and Sandor Eles was perfectly convincing as the mysterious stranger.
All in all a very good mystery thriller, but don't go expecting anything that thrilling though as it's rather slowly paced, but had great atmoshere and tension.
And Soon the Darkness
Prismark104 August 2020
And Soon the Darkness is a foreboding eerie thriller written by Brian Clemens and Terry Nation. Two writers better known for their sci fi/fantasy output.
Two young pretty nurses are on a cycling holiday in the French countryside. Jane (Pamela Franklin) wants to keep on schedule. Cathy (Michele Dotrice) is more outgoing, provocatively dressed and wants to have a good time.
Cathy has caught the eye of a young man in a village cafe who they keep seeing. Jane leaves Cathy alone after an argument over their itinerary and Cathy thinks that Jane is being too pushy. At a cafe, Jane is warned by a woman that this area is dangerous. Later Jane finds out that Cathy has disappeared.
Jane gets help from the young man they saw earlier. Paul (Sandor Elès) claims to be a detective from Paris who is looking into a murder of a young woman that took place in the area several years ago. Jane finds him creepy and manages to get to a local police station.
The opening theme music is too jarring for this kind of thriller. It also tries too hard to portray Paul as the villain. When I first watched this many years ago, I found the reveal to be genuinely unsettling. I did think the film suffers by not being taut enough. It is a lot better than its 2010 remake.
Two young pretty nurses are on a cycling holiday in the French countryside. Jane (Pamela Franklin) wants to keep on schedule. Cathy (Michele Dotrice) is more outgoing, provocatively dressed and wants to have a good time.
Cathy has caught the eye of a young man in a village cafe who they keep seeing. Jane leaves Cathy alone after an argument over their itinerary and Cathy thinks that Jane is being too pushy. At a cafe, Jane is warned by a woman that this area is dangerous. Later Jane finds out that Cathy has disappeared.
Jane gets help from the young man they saw earlier. Paul (Sandor Elès) claims to be a detective from Paris who is looking into a murder of a young woman that took place in the area several years ago. Jane finds him creepy and manages to get to a local police station.
The opening theme music is too jarring for this kind of thriller. It also tries too hard to portray Paul as the villain. When I first watched this many years ago, I found the reveal to be genuinely unsettling. I did think the film suffers by not being taut enough. It is a lot better than its 2010 remake.
Stunning location, tense & intriguing
HorrorQueen1727 May 2012
2 girls go on a cycling holiday to France. When one of them goes missing, it's up to the other one to try to find out what is going on and try to save her friend.
The set up of this was pretty slow but it built up the atmosphere and tension really well. It is set in the French countryside and the sunshine is relentless, which was a nice change from horror movies being shot in a lot of darkness. A lot of the time people are speaking French and the protagonist doesn't understand the language, as there are no subtitles the audience doesn't either, which I thought was clever.
While the ending was not unexpected, the amount of suspects did keep me guessing for a while and the film kept the tension building the whole way through. Pamela Franklin did a good job carrying the film mostly on her shoulders, and overall I think it was a very good, tense little thriller. It wasn't particularly scary, so don't see it if you're wanting a good fright, but as a thriller it was pretty good.
The set up of this was pretty slow but it built up the atmosphere and tension really well. It is set in the French countryside and the sunshine is relentless, which was a nice change from horror movies being shot in a lot of darkness. A lot of the time people are speaking French and the protagonist doesn't understand the language, as there are no subtitles the audience doesn't either, which I thought was clever.
While the ending was not unexpected, the amount of suspects did keep me guessing for a while and the film kept the tension building the whole way through. Pamela Franklin did a good job carrying the film mostly on her shoulders, and overall I think it was a very good, tense little thriller. It wasn't particularly scary, so don't see it if you're wanting a good fright, but as a thriller it was pretty good.
A Haunting Suspense Movie!
AusRich24 May 1999
This movie leaves a deep impression.
It is a suspense thriller with a deceptively simple plot. There are only four or five characters. Two young English nurses are cycling in France, and become separated at the roadside after an argument. Nurse Pamela Franklin returns to find her friend - but she has unaccountably vanished...
The film is set against an eerily quiet backdrop of French countryside. As the worried girl moves (from village to police station to cafe to farmlands) in search of her lost friend, the tension mounts. Any of the few strangers she meets might help her - but is one of them the killer?
Little by little,her hope and certainty fade. An uncaring and hostile environment closes in almost palpably around her.
The suspense only breaks at the very end, when all is known. Finally, the upbeat, flippant closing theme music brings us back to reality.
This is one of the most 'atmospheric' films I have ever seen.
I give it a 'ten.'
It is a suspense thriller with a deceptively simple plot. There are only four or five characters. Two young English nurses are cycling in France, and become separated at the roadside after an argument. Nurse Pamela Franklin returns to find her friend - but she has unaccountably vanished...
The film is set against an eerily quiet backdrop of French countryside. As the worried girl moves (from village to police station to cafe to farmlands) in search of her lost friend, the tension mounts. Any of the few strangers she meets might help her - but is one of them the killer?
Little by little,her hope and certainty fade. An uncaring and hostile environment closes in almost palpably around her.
The suspense only breaks at the very end, when all is known. Finally, the upbeat, flippant closing theme music brings us back to reality.
This is one of the most 'atmospheric' films I have ever seen.
I give it a 'ten.'
Decent old-school UK thriller
BloedEnMelk19 January 2012
Even though I have not seen 'And Soon the Darkness' before, it still brings on a sentimental feeling to me. It's not at all a sentimental movie but it is the slow pace, the suspense ánd the music composed by Laurie Johnson (The Avengers) that give me sort of a déjà-vu feeling.
The story is not a complex one. It's about two women going for a cycling holiday in France. They get an argument and decide to split up for the moment. One of them then disappears, and the other goes looking for her.
Though AStD reminds me of (the original Dutch) 'The Vanishing', unfortunately the plot doesn't have that strength. Still, it's a decent thriller and a mystery until the very end. It is slow, but has enough moments to keep it going. The French spoken bits are not translated which makes us much relate to Jane. Pretty much all characters have their weirdness, but always within limits. This makes sure that it is all a believable scenario. The story is one that could easily happen, it is never outside of the feeling of reality. And that is what gives it it's fairly creepy atmosphere. What would you do in Jane's place?
AStD is a movie which you could easily find boring. There is not much real action, but in a way, that is a good thing. It's a movie you should place and value within it's time. I've read that there was a remake made in 2010, and though I haven't watched it, what I read about it is that it is made more towards this age, with scenes of torture. There is nothing of such kind in the original one, and though I can appreciate and deal with highly violent movies, it is just not what AStD needs. Instead; it is the lack of it which is a good thing, as it all comes down to good fashioned strong suspense. It leaves more to your imagination. Suspense is something the British were very good at in the 70's, and though there are better UK suspense movies, AStD is certainly not the worst.
They just don't make 'm like this anymore.
The story is not a complex one. It's about two women going for a cycling holiday in France. They get an argument and decide to split up for the moment. One of them then disappears, and the other goes looking for her.
Though AStD reminds me of (the original Dutch) 'The Vanishing', unfortunately the plot doesn't have that strength. Still, it's a decent thriller and a mystery until the very end. It is slow, but has enough moments to keep it going. The French spoken bits are not translated which makes us much relate to Jane. Pretty much all characters have their weirdness, but always within limits. This makes sure that it is all a believable scenario. The story is one that could easily happen, it is never outside of the feeling of reality. And that is what gives it it's fairly creepy atmosphere. What would you do in Jane's place?
AStD is a movie which you could easily find boring. There is not much real action, but in a way, that is a good thing. It's a movie you should place and value within it's time. I've read that there was a remake made in 2010, and though I haven't watched it, what I read about it is that it is made more towards this age, with scenes of torture. There is nothing of such kind in the original one, and though I can appreciate and deal with highly violent movies, it is just not what AStD needs. Instead; it is the lack of it which is a good thing, as it all comes down to good fashioned strong suspense. It leaves more to your imagination. Suspense is something the British were very good at in the 70's, and though there are better UK suspense movies, AStD is certainly not the worst.
They just don't make 'm like this anymore.
Stylishly glum murder-mystery with no great solution
moonspinner552 December 2017
Jane and Cathy, British student nurses on holiday in the French countryside, take a break from bicycling on a dull stretch of road because Cathy, having eyed a gentleman in the previous village, wants to rest (and give him a chance to catch up). The more pragmatic Jane wants to reach the next town before nightfall and decides to head out on her own. Mystery story from screenwriters Brian Clemens and Terry Nation might either be called a compact thriller or a very unimaginative one--it literally goes nowhere but back and forth from town to the woods, into the woods and back out again. The usually-volatile Pamela Franklin has a rather benign role this time; she's curious unfettered upon discovering her friend has disappeared, courteous and polite to the strangers she tries to make conversation with, and not a very good detective or judge of character. The language barrier is a problem with a picture like this: Franklin must keep explaining everything we already know to the French villagers (potential suspects and wayward eccentrics) and we're not sure if they understand her or maybe just think she's insane (and vice-versa). The picture isn't a horror movie--there's hardly any blood shown--and director Robert Fuest guides it along with a sure hand, but it becomes repetitive. Franklin's Jane goes back to search for her friend, she gets a ride into town, she waits for her ride to come back, she hitches a ride back to the woods, she retrieves her bicycle, and then she goes on to the next town. It isn't an exciting film, nor an important one, but it does have an abundance of atmosphere and has been been produced in a very classy manner. The finale is underwhelming. The case does get solved, yet there are a lot of unanswered questions left in the movie's wake, as well as the feeling that Fuest did his very best to enliven this scenario without a lot of help from his writers. Remade in 2010. ** from ****
superb English suspense film set in rural France
FieCrier4 February 2005
Surprisingly good suspenseful mystery here! I watched a used copy of the full frame HBO Video VHS, and I'm tempted to upgrade to the widescreen DVD which also has a commentary track.
Two pretty young English women are bicycling across the French countryside using scenic backroads (shot on location). The blonde spots a young Frenchman with sunglasses at a café that she thinks is "dishy," and they keep encountering him on the road, since he speeds by on his scooter and they continually pass him when he stops somewhere (a cemetery, a café).
They rest off the side of the road on the edge of some woods, and have a spat. The brunette wants to stick to their schedule, while the blonde wants to sunbathe and perhaps even turn back around to find and talk to the young man. The brunette goes on ahead, while the blonde stays put.
The brunette feels guilty, though, and stops at a café and waits. Her friend doesn't show up. The proprietress tries to tell her something, but the English girl speaks very little French. The French that is spoken is appropriately not subtitled, putting those of us who also don't know French into her shoes. The café owner knows a tiny bit of English: "bad road." The girl decides to go back for her friend, and finds her missing, though her camera is still there.
There are a lot of suspicious people in the movie. The young man with the sunglasses is the first obvious suspect, but there's also a farmer in a field, the café owner and a man in overalls at her café, an older British lady, a gendarme, the gendarme's father.... The poor English girl doesn't know who she can trust.
I really enjoyed this movie a lot, and I didn't find it to be slow at all.
Two pretty young English women are bicycling across the French countryside using scenic backroads (shot on location). The blonde spots a young Frenchman with sunglasses at a café that she thinks is "dishy," and they keep encountering him on the road, since he speeds by on his scooter and they continually pass him when he stops somewhere (a cemetery, a café).
They rest off the side of the road on the edge of some woods, and have a spat. The brunette wants to stick to their schedule, while the blonde wants to sunbathe and perhaps even turn back around to find and talk to the young man. The brunette goes on ahead, while the blonde stays put.
The brunette feels guilty, though, and stops at a café and waits. Her friend doesn't show up. The proprietress tries to tell her something, but the English girl speaks very little French. The French that is spoken is appropriately not subtitled, putting those of us who also don't know French into her shoes. The café owner knows a tiny bit of English: "bad road." The girl decides to go back for her friend, and finds her missing, though her camera is still there.
There are a lot of suspicious people in the movie. The young man with the sunglasses is the first obvious suspect, but there's also a farmer in a field, the café owner and a man in overalls at her café, an older British lady, a gendarme, the gendarme's father.... The poor English girl doesn't know who she can trust.
I really enjoyed this movie a lot, and I didn't find it to be slow at all.
Underrated British thriller set in France deserves a viewing before darkness
tonypeacock-120 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
1970 British thriller that is based on location in the idyllic French countryside.
Two young British women are on a cycling holiday through the long straight roads of France when after some petty argument they go their seperate ways.
Later on one of the women Jane gets a guilty conscience and turns back in the hope of finding her friend Cathy except she can't locate her.
I won't go into the details of the remainder of the film except to say some strange French locals and English ex pats bring fear and doubt into Jane about the safety of Cathy.
The film achieves its goal in making it's audience constantly change their mind as to what could have happened and by whom to Cathy.
Some random observations I made included the cast.
Jane is played by Michele Dotrice who went onto fame later in the decade as Betty Spencer in BBC TV comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em.
The soundtrack seems to consist solely of one annoying tune played on every radio and restaurant in the film it seems.
The French countryside does look good even in a film print some 45 years old.
I was satisfied with this considering its low budget British film origins and am always surprised at the low rating it gets.
Two young British women are on a cycling holiday through the long straight roads of France when after some petty argument they go their seperate ways.
Later on one of the women Jane gets a guilty conscience and turns back in the hope of finding her friend Cathy except she can't locate her.
I won't go into the details of the remainder of the film except to say some strange French locals and English ex pats bring fear and doubt into Jane about the safety of Cathy.
The film achieves its goal in making it's audience constantly change their mind as to what could have happened and by whom to Cathy.
Some random observations I made included the cast.
Jane is played by Michele Dotrice who went onto fame later in the decade as Betty Spencer in BBC TV comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em.
The soundtrack seems to consist solely of one annoying tune played on every radio and restaurant in the film it seems.
The French countryside does look good even in a film print some 45 years old.
I was satisfied with this considering its low budget British film origins and am always surprised at the low rating it gets.
Flawed thriller
csbrown0727 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Sorry I cannot understand rave reviews of this film. On the surface it is a good thriller but has serious flaws
1. Every character acts suspiciously like an Agatha Christie novel, even the British ex-pat teacher that never appears again
2. -Spoiler- why did the Paul character ruin the film from the camera if he was not the killer. It just does not make sense
3. -Spoiler- there are no clues during the film of the eventual Perpetrator. A mystery/crime plot should at least leave some clues rather just presenting the killer at the last moment.
Overall not really good
1. Every character acts suspiciously like an Agatha Christie novel, even the British ex-pat teacher that never appears again
2. -Spoiler- why did the Paul character ruin the film from the camera if he was not the killer. It just does not make sense
3. -Spoiler- there are no clues during the film of the eventual Perpetrator. A mystery/crime plot should at least leave some clues rather just presenting the killer at the last moment.
Overall not really good
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