User reviews

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

An uneven but enjoyable movie. Cathy and Jane are 2 English girls on a cycling trip in France. Early on in the piece the girls argue, Cathy stops to lap up the sun, Jane proceeds. Whoops, This is the first half hour which was referenced in another review. A difficult introduction made all the more difficult by the camera work which featured close ups and lingering shots which were meaningless. Or were they? The rest of the film finds Jane turning back and searching for her friend. Drawing the obvious conclusions (we already have a good idea) she meets a number of characters and one of the strengths of the film is the ability to subtly accuse everyone. There is no blatant, ham fisted laying of clues but all characters are given just enough to get you thinking.

There is one moment in the film which had me jumping out of my chair and that doesn't happen often. I could have done with some subtitles for the French dialogue but maybe we are expected to hear what Jane would hear. I had very little idea of what the characters are saying (schoolboy French) and therefore may miss out on important details. As may Jane. We have to remember that Jane has not seen what we have seen so she can only assume the worst.

The conclusion is a little lame and not unexpected. And a few of the markers laid down by the directors are left hanging which is frustrating and leads to an uneven film. Oh yeah, and the music at the end is completely inappropriate.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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 ****