Two attractive, young English nurses, Jane and Cathy (Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice), ignore common sense and ill-advisedly pop on their tightest pairs of shorts for a cycling holiday through France, taking only the most rural roads available. When the girls quarrel, Cathy preferring to sunbathe than to cycle, Jane goes off alone, leaving her friend to soak up the sun. Eventually, Jane returns to the spot where she left Cathy, but finds that her friend has completely disappeared. Worried for Cathy's safety, she tries to find help, but can she trust any of the people that she meets?The pairing of lovely Michele Dotrice (Betty from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em) and gorgeous Pamela Franklin make this film a treat as it is, but with a superb script from top TV scribes Brian Clemens (The Avengers) and Terry Nation (Dr. Who), and taut direction from Robert Fuest, who employs an effective slow-burn approach to gradually ramp up the tension, And Soon The Darkness proves to be a very stylish, atmospheric and chilling women-in-peril movie.Despite its relaxed pace and lack of exploitative elements (there's no nudity or gore) the film is a thoroughly entertaining experience, gripping and suspenseful throughout: red herrings abound and there are multiple suspects, all of whom act suspiciously. The remote French countryside is used to great effect, cinematographer Ian Wilson capturing a palpable sense of foreboding and menace in the lonely landscape, despite the whole film taking place in bright sunlight. The language barrier adds another level of tension, Jane's inability to fully grasp what is being said to her creating several extremely uncomfortable moments (and with no subtitles, we the viewer are left equally unsure as to precisely what is happening).Fuest does, perhaps, leave it a tad too long before concluding matters, but with a lead as appealing as Franklin, its not too much of a chore to hang on in there till the very end.

Two young English women go on holiday bicycling through the French countryside. It becomes apparent that sensible Jane (Franklin) is better suited to the vagaries of the excursion than her free-spirited and flirtatious friend Cathy (Dotrice). After a series of disagreements over pace and schedule they have a nasty row by the roadside miles in between villages.Jane rides off leaving Cathy alone. The disagreement is not enough to be a complete impasse but it is sufficient to get them to want to be away from each other for a while. Cathy said some very rude things and Jane took offense knowing she meant them. Shortly after parting they soon wish they hadn't. Cathy disappears and Jane struggles to find her. The language barrier prevents Cathy from getting the whole picture in questioning locals though the odd words in French she can pick out are sinister ones. She discovers that a Dutch girl who looked much like Cathy was found murdered in the area three years earlier. "It was more than murder...If you know what I mean" one of the characters says. Bludgeoned and mutilated her death haunts the residents some of whom appear sketchy apart even from the circumstances.A mysterious young man on a motorbike is hanging around too. Cathy doesn't trust him even though he identifies himself as benevolent and suggests he can be precisely the kind of help she has been looking for. Given his recent past and enigmatic demeanour he may very well be exactly whom she needs to avoid to survive and his inability to avoid actions which make him appear suspicious complicate things further.For those who understand French a lot of the confusion dissipates pretty early on. Because the heroine does not several unexpected things happen to her. The words in French she does understand also get misconstrued in identifying the one she really has to be worried about. The audience itself has its own guessing game sorting the words and actions of the people Jane meets. what they are saying, why they are saying it and even how they are saying it could be misinterpreted. What happened in the past in the area still effect the characters that live there and the way they interact with each other. It makes all the difference.

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.

I've spent some time this summer trying to track down obscure horror movies from the 1970s, and this is one of the best I've encountered. I am just sick to death of modern movies which this time of year fall into one of three categories. Remakes, sequels, and comic book (or excuse me.... "graphic novels"). After scanning some old titles, this one just jumped out at me. And Soon the Darkness sounds evil and foreboding, and the film basically delivers. And of course I see it has been remade! UGGGHHHHH. No doubt that is an inferior film.Anyway, And Soon the Darkness is the story of two young English women who are bicycling through rural France, and run into some trouble. After an argument, one of them leaves the other to sun herself by the side of a county highway while she pedals to the nearest town. The more flirty of the two stays behind, hoping the handsome young man she has been flirting with that day will drive by on his little European scooter and sweep her off her feet. Well, somebody does just that, but the encounter apparently does not go well. The girl who headed for town waits and waits, but her friend never shows up to meet her. Something bad has likely happened to the other girl, but what? And which of the creepy locals had something to do with it? Maybe they all did.This is one of those films that doesn't let its lack of budget be a hindrance. It uses the wide open countryside very effectively, and it really helps the viewer understand just how vulnerable these girls are. They are easy targets that could be seem from miles away. Some of the shots show creepy-looking farmers just watching them pedal by from a distance. Much of the dialog is French, and no subtitles are provided. I couldn't even get them from my DVD player. Unless you speak French you will be just as bewildered as the girl trying to figure out if the locals know what happened to her friend. The movie is extremely well-filmed, but the ghastly soundtrack is horribly dated and seems inappropriate. Almost as bad as the soundtrack from The Legacy. The conclusion is a little too drawn-out, but the ending should be satisfying enough for anyone who can enjoy the build-up. Definitely a diamond in the rough, this film is worth 7 of 10 stars.The Hound.