In an episode of "Quincy" a kidnapper buries his victim under ground with only a limited supply of oxygen. However, the kidnapper gets accidentally killed and Dr. Quincy is called in to piece together the clues in order to help the police figure out where that missing person is buried. Well, after seeing "The Longest Night", it became obvious that the writer of that "Quincy" episode 'borrowed' the idea from this earlier TV movie. Additionally, years later the Dutch film "The Vanishing" also has some similarities...though not nearly enough to assume the writer 'borrowed' from "The Longest Night". As for the story, the film acknowledges that the story is based on an actual kidnapping and it is conceivable that the writer for "Quincy" got the idea from the actual case and not the movie.
When this "ABC Movie of the Week" installment begins, a kidnapper is moving his female victim to a buried room not much bigger than a coffin. She'll stay there with oxygen and light for several days in this claustrophobia-inducing hole until after the ransom is paid and the clever criminal is sure he's in the clear. And, unlike in "Quincy" the guy isn't killed but there still is a huge hurry to get to the victim in time as there just isn't much air in this space...and the kidnapper doesn't seem to mind too much if she isn't found in time.
This is one of the more exciting and suspenseful movies from this series. Additionally, watching the policework going into the case was interesting as well. Combined with some nice acting, this film is well worth seeing and better than the "Quincy" episode.
