And Soon the Darkness

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.