And Soon the Darkness
Runtime: 94 minutes
Original UK Rating: X * Current UK Home-Video Rating: 15 * Original U.S. Rating: GP
Original Release Date: July 5, 1970 — United Kingdom * U.S. Release: April 1971
Director: Robert Fuest
Writers: Brian Clemens and Terry Nation
Starring: Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice, Sandor Elès
Country: United Kingdom Runtime: 94 minutes
Original Language: English, with some French dialogue
Genre: Thriller / Mystery / Horror
Format: Color; 35mm; approximately 1.85:1; mono sound

I can think of no better way to start my new cycle of reviews than with this incredible British thriller with proto-slasher DNA . Firstly, because this is a truly incredible film, secondly because it runs a rather incredible parallel to Midnight Cinephile. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself though, first things first we need to discuss the film proper.

The setup for the film is simplicity itself : Two women, Jane and Cathy, nurses from England, are on holiday in France, bicycling their way along country roads. That is exactly where we join them during the opening title and credits, which, by that way, have a bizarrely and fantastically upbeat funky jazz tune playing over it! I digress, the ladies stop at a roadside cafe for lunch. Jane is actively trying to plan out the route for the rest of the day while Cathy is busy people watching and taking photos, eventually landing her lens on a mysterious man that she finds “rather dishy.”  This gentleman notices Jane as well and doesn’t look very pleased that she is taking his photo, putting his sunglasses on.  “Oh he’s shy too..” she says. Hhmm. 

The ladies go along their way and it would appear that they have attracted the full attention of this mystery man. After they depart on their bikes and disappear down the road, he hops on his moped and heads off in the same direction. Interesting side note:  he just about runs over a nun walking down the street! This was not something that was meant to be part of the story either, I’m sure, because the nun doesn’t react at all…she just keeps walking. Maybe I’m missing something culturally, because first off she’s not even close to the side of the road. Secondly, he just heads straight for her and then kind of swerves around and keeps going. Everyone acts like this is totally normal. I’m sure I’m reading far too much into it, but it’s something that I kept thinking about during the beginning of the film. You’ll understand why that’s sort of important in a bit. 

The mystery gentleman blows past the girls down a long country road. Cathy hears the motor and becomes visibly excited for a moment, I’m sure hoping that he’s coming after to talk to her. It’s becoming apparent that she’s looking for a little more than lush countryside and cardiovascular exercise on this trip. Her disappointment is visible as well as he passes them. Further down the road, the mystery man is off of his moped and standing, leaning against the large stone wall of a cemetery off the side of the road. He watches them intently as they pass by. Cue the tight close-up of the man’s face (who is wearing sunglasses) and you can CLEARLY see the camera operator in the reflection of the glasses!  AMAZING!  After the girls pass by, this fellow goes into the cemetery and visits a young woman’s grave.

Well now, that seems like an odd coincidence doesn’t it? 

Eventually, Cathy convinces Jane to stop at a small grassy clearing just off the road, tucked against a patch of woods amid the otherwise wide-open French countryside. Honestly, it really is a beautiful little spot that I probably would have chosen myself, had I decided to rest along the road somewhere. Cathy wants to sunbathe a bit and take a nap, while Jane reminds her that they still have a long way to go and doesn’t want to be out in the middle of nowhere on bicycles.  They argue, Cathy wanting to stop the rigid pace they are keeping and Jane wanting to stay on schedule. Honestly, I see both of their points. Cathy has a good point in that on vacation, you should allow flexibility and be able to go with the flow. Jane also has a great point that sometimes you’ve got to stay on schedule so you don’t end up in a bad situation. Both valid arguments. What happens next is what I like to call a HORRIBLE FUCKING IDEA.

Neither woman will give an inch in their argument, resulting in Cathy telling Jane that if she wants to go so badly, she should go on without her and she’ll stay and rest and catch up with her later. Letting anger make the decision for her, Jane agrees and off she goes down the road. It’s obvious that she fairly quickly starts to second guess the idea, but pride, or maybe anger keep her moving forward until she comes to another rural roadside cafe, where the proprietor, Madame Lassal, tells her that she shouldn’t be travelling alone on this road. 

We cut back to Cathy, she’s woken up from her nap and she starts to collect her underwear that she (for reasons I’m still trying to comprehend) put out of various branches to air out. Can we just stop and think about this for a moment? You’re alone. In the middle of nowhere. SLEEPING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. Why? Why would you put your underwear out for everyone to see? Why don’t you just put up a blinking road sign that says: UNCONSCIOUS WOMAN LYING HERE, DO AS YOU WILL! I’m getting off track again. Anyway, as she’s collecting her unmentionables, she notices that a pair of her panties are missing. That can’t be good. Things get even worse, her bicycle’s tire has been mangled. Well, shit. Next thing you know, we’re in a POV shot, a hand lands on her shoulder and she screams as the scene cuts back to Jane.

Still at the roadside cafe, Madame Lassal’s husband arrives via his own bicycle and the two immediately get into a domestic dispute. This is all the motivation she needs to head back and check on Cathy, whom she thought would have come around by now. When she arrives back to the clearing there is no sign of her. Cathy, her bike and her underwear. All vanished. As Jane looks around, who should appear, but the mystery man from the cafe and roadside cemetery. He tells her that he saw her and wanted to check on him because he’s a “very intuitive fellow.”  He convinces her to go with him on his moped, leaving HER bike at the clearing and to head back towards the direction they had started in. He tells her that his name is Paul. He is a former Sûreté detective who has been privately investigating an earlier murder in the area. Lucky for her, he speaks English very well. 

Another interesting aspect of the film is that it takes place entirely during the day. Clemens said the filmmakers intentionally made things harder for themselves by setting the suspense in broad daylight. His thinking was essentially that darkness is inherently frightening, so they wanted to see whether they could scare an audience without it. The cinematography really helps out in this department. There are massive wide open vistas, bringing to mind the ‘big sky’ westerns of the 50’s & 60’s juxtaposed with tight shots of facial reactions. Ian Wilson, the cinematographer, also had an incredible way of making ordinary objects focal points that begin to make you suspicious. Is Cathy stuffed in that hay bale? Is she in that large wooden crate? Did someone burn her up in that fire barrel next to Madame Lassal’s cafe? All of these things do something incredible. They make these wide open, brightly lit expanses start to feel claustrophobic. The vastness of it all seems like it’s closing in. Truly, I’m surprised it’s not taught in film school. This is a masterclass in cinematography. 

Now if you recall, at the beginning I told you that And Soon The Darkness shared an interesting parallel with Midnight Cinephile. Allow me to explain. Way back in the dark ages…around 1997…I stumbled across John Stanley’s Creature Features in my local Barnes & Nobles. It became my film bible. I read that tome cover to cover multiple times and as of this writing have at least three copies of it:  two copies of the 1997  5th edition (one of which has the cover and first 10 or so pages missing) and a copy of the 6th edition printed in 2000 with hundreds of new films added.  That ratty beaten copy with pages missing is the original. I would read through and put a mark next to every film I wanted to see. Honestly, looking back, it probably would have been easier to mark the films that I DIDN’T want to see.  There would have been far fewer markings in the book. 

-Zero Actual Nudity
-One psycho prowling the French countryside
-One voyeuristically framed sunbather
-One stolen pair of panties
-One old man wearing panties as headgear
-One café proprietor remarkably blasé about murdered young women being good for business
-An entire village populated by people who seem to know everybody else’s bedroom business
-One local with a reputation that strongly suggests he’s been making the rounds
-One prior sexual assault/murder hanging over the story
-And one extremely sleazy final reveal