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 ?