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      And Soon the Darkness

      PG 1970 1h 40m Mystery & Thriller List
      29% 7 Reviews Tomatometer 63% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Young English nurses Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) are on a cycling holiday in the French countryside. They happen upon a mysterious man, Paul (Sandor Eles), who seems interested in them. Cathy is intrigued by the man, but suspicious Jane wants to continue on the journey. The two split apart after arguing the point, but, when Jane returns to the village where they're staying, her friend is nowhere to be found. Frantic, she searches for Cathy. Will she find her in time? Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Tom K A clever slow burner. Predictable in hindsight, even though I don't speak French, but it's fun nonetheless. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/29/23 Full Review Rebekah P Two young nurses who seem to barely get along for inexplicable reasons decide to bicycle the most boring, brown, flat, redneck part of France. One, Cathy, just wants to eat, drink, be merry, and look at guys--fine. She's also whiny and bored--fine. But that's like all she is. The other is our hero Jane, by the book, single-mindedly following the course they supposedly planned together. There is a brief moment of actual talking between the two, and then it ends in a silly fight and the hero ditching the other girl on the side of the road by a dinky forest in the middle of nowhere by sun-blasted fields. There were no subtitles for the French. Fine, I've done movies like that. Oh, and they're being followed by some French dude named Paul who is sketch AF and rides a scooter. Everyone goes up and down this one road a million times, except Cathy, who disappears. There are random people framed suspiciously. There's a gendarme played by an English guy. There's his weird dad who puts Cathy's abandoned undies on his head and farms. There's a rando school teacher English lady. There's a random dumpy roadside restaurant duo who do nothing but argue and add nothing to anything, except to be the country people warning of danger. It's a lot of badly plotted nonsense and grows quite tedious. This is like the original doing nothing but running through the woods pointlessly for an hour because we don't have enough story to work with. Paul is threatening but says he's a good guy. He destroys evidence. He scares Jane. He acts weird. He isn't forthcoming. But--oh, he's a red herring! That red herring is a rotted, grey herring, it's so badly done. This is also the original "Good dude who helps, but does it in the dumbest possible way because he's an idiot and ends up scaring the heroine." This movie, boy, I gotta tell ya. I was excited to watch it--and now all I can say is, "Welp, that's something I did." Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review isla s This is a pretty tame film as far as horror is concerned, although its not without its somewhat sinister aspects. Aspects of the plot reminded me of The Wicker Man and as a viewer I questioned if I was being/feeling a little paranoid at one point. I think it would be more fair to categorise it as a suspense film, suspense drama, rather than categorising it purely as horror. As a suspense film, it was quite good I suppose. I did feel confused and concerned about what may have taken place but there isn't much in the way of really jump inducing frights, gory violence or the like (which is just as well to me personally, as I'm not keen on that). The fact that the film has no subtitles to clarify the French spoken may (depending on if your fluent in French, of course) add to the somewhat claustrophobic feel the film carries, which it does although it builds up relatively slowly. This is an interesting watch, although it won't suit all. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review jjjjjj j A well directed film that who's plot seems a bit outdated in modern times. It was well shot, the music was good but the film seemed very predictable. Maybe in the past the plot would have seemed more novel but in modern times the movie feels very predictable. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member An absolutely Francophobic load of excrement. Complete garbage. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/27/20 Full Review Audience Member Cheap, predictable, dull, dull, dull Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      And Soon the Darkness

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (7) Critics Reviews
      Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Ineffective red herrings contribute to an overarching sense that the film isn't sure about what destination to choose. Rated: C+ Jan 5, 2011 Full Review Tom Beasley VultureHound It's a slow-moving film and one that never has the injection of tense set-pieces required to keep the narrative moving. Rated: 1/5 Aug 16, 2020 Full Review Penelope Houston The Spectator Robert Fuest directs at a pace that even a self-respecting snail might consider lethargic. Jul 12, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews It casts a sinister mood on its idiotic gloomy damsel-in-distress thriller story, and the result is a well-shot but unpleasant and unimaginative pic. Rated: C Aug 8, 2015 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Brontan frissons Jan 9, 2011 Full Review Lucius Gore ESplatter Some downplay the effectiveness of this film because of its slow pace. I find it only adds to the tension. Rated: 3/4 Aug 4, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Young English nurses Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) are on a cycling holiday in the French countryside. They happen upon a mysterious man, Paul (Sandor Eles), who seems interested in them. Cathy is intrigued by the man, but suspicious Jane wants to continue on the journey. The two split apart after arguing the point, but, when Jane returns to the village where they're staying, her friend is nowhere to be found. Frantic, she searches for Cathy. Will she find her in time?
      Director
      Robert Fuest
      Screenwriter
      Brian Clemens
      Production Co
      EMI Films, Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English (United Kingdom)
      Runtime
      1h 40m