And Soon the Darkness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| And Soon the Darkness | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | Robert Fuest |
| Produced by | Albert Fennell, Brian Clemens |
| Written by | Brian Clemens and Terry Nation |
| Starring | Pamela Franklin Michele Dotrice Sandor Elès John Nettleton Clare Kelly |
| Distributed by | EMI |
| Release date(s) | September 10, 1970 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
And Soon The Darkness is a 1970 British thriller film.
Starring Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice and Sandor Elès, it tells the story of two young English women on a cycling holiday in France, who run into difficulties.
It was directed by Robert Fuest, and made by the same production team who had recently completed the television series The Avengers. The screenplay was written by Brian Clemens and Terry Nation, both of whom had contributed to The Avengers as well as several ITC crime series made in Britain. Consequently, although being filmed on location in France, the film has the look and feel of these series. Despite the title, the film eschews the familiar use of darkness and claustrophobia to create suspense. In a way analogous to Stanley Kubrick's use of the large hotel interiors in The Shining (which it predates by a decade) all the mounting drama is handled by the use of bright, open spaces. Similar parallels have been drawn with the isolation and dread of the open road in Steven Spielberg's thriller Duel.
The film did moderately well at the box-office on both sides of the Atlantic but did not do particularly well critically. Time Out called it "nasty"[1] and the New York Times said it displayed "poverty of imagination"[2]. The British film critic Leslie Halliwell noted that it did have "some pretension to style"[3]. The film has gone on to acquire the status of a minor cult classic, thanks to the connection with The Avengers and the central understated performance of Pamela Franklin.
It was released as a DVD in the US with an audio commentary by Fuest and Clemens, but (as of July 2006) the film has yet to be given a British DVD release.
Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) are two young nurses from London taking a cycling holiday in rural France. Stopping at a busy cafe, Jane wants to plan their route, but Cathy is more interested in a handsome man (Sandor Elès) she spies drinking alone at the next table. Later the man, who rides a moped, overtakes them as they make their way along the quiet country road, and they pass him a few minutes later as he rests by a cemetery gate. Cathy becomes intrigued by him.
Stopping for a rest, Cathy decides she wants sunbathe for longer, but Jane wants to push on. Eventually they argue, and Jane decides to carry on alone.
A short while later, at a lonely cafe, the owner tries to tell Jane in poor English that the area has a bad reputation. She begins to rethink her decision, and heads back to the spot where she left Cathy, unaware that something has already happened.
Unable to find her friend, and increasingly concerned about the presence of the moped rider, Jane decides to look for the local police officer (John Nettleton). Jane becomes convinced the moped driver, who is called Paul and who says he is a plain-clothes detective, is in fact Cathy's attacker. She escapes from him and she re-encounters the policeman, who is revealed as Cathy's murderer.
[edit] References
- ^ Time Out website review
- ^ New York Times, 5 April 1971
- ^ Halliwell's Film Guide entry
