And Soon The Darkness (1970)
We probably wouldn't have bothered watching and reviewing this one, a slight little broad daylight suspense thriller assembled by the creative team behind that beloved, long running TV series "The Avengers".
Then we'd heard that in some quarters, this film's thought of as an underappreciated cult classic, a nail biter almost worthy of Hitchcock. Okay, you had us at 'Hitchcock'....
What really caught our eye, (as she always did) was one the film's beautiful, talented young stars, Pamela Franklin, of whom we've been a dedicated fanboy for decades.
Franklin plays Jane, one of two young nurses spending their vacation bicycling through the fields and forests of the French countryside.
Stopping to rest during their long trek through the endless wide open scenery, Jane squabbles with her companion Cathy (Michele Dotrice) who'd prefer to nap. So Jane leaves Cathy to sunbathe and doze on her own while she pedals off in search of any kind of small town.
Uh ohhhh.......
To no surprise to anyone who's seen enough thrillers, Cathy encounters some unseen someone in the woods (and left to a fate unseen as well...) When Jane returns to the glade where she left her friend, Cathy's nowhere to be found.
Jane's search for Cathy puts her into contact with a variety of potential suspects including a young Frenchman (Sandor Eles) who may or my not have been stalking the girls. Also in the mix - vaguely hostile shopkeepers, a mysterious retired schoolmistress and the local gendarme who assures Jane he'll get to the bottom of things.
Oh, and did we forget to mention that there's been an unsolved rape and murder in the same general area? Hmmm.........the plot sickens....
Our gal Pam is luminous and gorgeous as usual, and the film maintains a nicely rendered atmosphere of suspicion and dread. We enjoyed the skilled use of the scenic, but dangerously remote setting to turn up the anxiety a few notches. And writers Brian Clemens and Terry Nation and director Robert Fuest (the "Doctor Philbes" films) know exactly when to pop the twists and deliver a satisfying showdown with....(well, we dare not say.)
Modest and quiet, "And Soon The Darkness" seemed intentionally designed to fly under everybody's radar and end up forgotten. But for anyone who seeks out a solid little mystery for a rainy afternoon, this one's worth checking out.
3 stars (***)......and incredibly, 40 years later in 2010, the film was remade with Amber Heard and Odette Annabelle as the traveling girls. BQ promises to quickly view that one to post a comparison.....stay tuned!)
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