Review of And Soon the Darkness (1970) by Rodney S — 28 Sep 2009

This 1970 creepy British mystery thriller is pretty good. Story is about two British girls going on a bike ride journey into rural France on a nice sunny day, and make a big mistake by stopping just outside a small village to rest.

They have an argument, and one of the girls (Pamela Franklin) takes off while the bitchy blond (Michele Dotrice) stays and sunbathes in an area next to a woods. The blond soon disappears, and the other girl comes back looking for her and talks to a woman at a local pub.

She finds out a sex murder had occurred a few years earlier and the killer was never found, and now it appears the same thing has happened to the blond. Everything occurs during the bright daylight, there are no night scenes whatsoever.

The dvd box, says this has the most surprising twist ending of any British movie ever, or something like that. So, right away, you try to guess what has happened, and who is the killer. I guessed wrong, and I was pretty sure of who I suspected.

I recommend this excellent well-acted, atmospheric British thriller very highly. It manages to stay clear of anything graphic, but still manages to creep you out. Very well done by director Robert Fuest.