And Soon the Darkness

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Fuest directs. Ian Wilson behind the camera. Laurie Johnson scores. Ann Chegwidden cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France, United Kingdom. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 156 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 3International production across 2 countries: France, United Kingdom.
• 4Directed by Robert Fuest, shot by Ian Wilson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Laurie Johnson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Ann Chegwidden shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice and Sandor Elès carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Remember the way Hitchcock kept you on the edge of your seat...?".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0065398 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 13 themes, including "france", "language barrier", "bicycle", "murder".

The technical file

Cinematography

Ian Wilson

Original score

Laurie Johnson

Editing

Ann Chegwidden

Makeup / hair

Gerry Fletcher

Runtime

99 min · 1h 39m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

And Soon the Darkness (1970) ↗

Also by

Robert Fuest

• 
  A Movie Star's Daughter

  1979 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Avengers

  1961 · ★ 7.8
• 
  The New Avengers

  1976 · ★ 7.2
• 
  The Abominable Dr. Phibes

  1971 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Wuthering Heights

  1970 · ★ 6.4
• 
  Dr. Phibes Rises Again

  1972 · ★ 6.3

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  AND SOON THE DARKNESS 1970 MOVIE TRAILER.

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2013-11-20
  ★ 8/10

  Daylight Dread. Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) are a couple of British nurses taking a bicycle vacation through rural France. When they have an argument, Jane storms off ahead leaving Cathy sunbathing on the grass. Later on Jane returns but can find no trace of Cathy, stuck in a foreign land and unable to speak the language, Jane soon finds herself in grave danger as she searches frantically for her lost friend. The title is about the protagonist trying to resolve a mystery/terror situation before the darkness falls. Film is completely set in daylight time, with a very limited amount of characters, and no extended bouts of dialogue. Looking at it from the outside, you would not be thought of as ignorant for expecting this to not be frightening or thrilling, yet it is both. The isolation of the countryside is a foreboding presence here, which coupled with Jane’s isolation as a foreigner, makes for edgy atmospherics. Director Robert Fuest is in no hurry what so ever to start turning the screws, so the first half of pic is very slow, but patience is rewarded once the girls argue and split up. Then Fuest starts introducing peripheral characters, and writers Brian Clemens and Terry Nation dangle bits of dark information into the plot, about the area and its history. The mystery element is amped up high, the perpetrator could quite easily be anyone who Jane meets, and then we lurch into paranoia and peril when all will be revealed in a wave of daylight dreadfulness. Critics were (are) very much divided about the picture, complaints ranging from it being nasty and distasteful, to it being too labourious for its own good. But it has a very good fan base, and it certainly does what it sets out to do by putting those wiling to invest fully in it on to the edge of their seats. Recommended on proviso you are prepared to bare with it for the first 45 minutes. 7/10

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2026-05-18

  Two English girls bicycling through the French farmlands takes a dark turn This is a good flick to get a feel for rural France. Petite Michele Dotrice is a highlight as the blonde while winsome Pamela Franklin is strapped with a dubious short haircut. She looks best in a movie she made the next year with a full brunette mane, “Necromancy,” featuring Orson Welles. Less than two years earlier Pamela shot another film in rural France, albeit the northern coast. I’m talking about “The Night of the Following Day” with Marlon Brando. Take that film and mix in elements of “In the Devil’s Garden” and it’ll give you an idea of what this movie offers. It was remade forty years later with Amber Heard, Odette Annable and Karl Urban, albeit switching the setting to American girls touring through Argentina. It runs 1h 39m and was shot Aug-Oct 1969 in the heart of France south of Paris (Loiret and Loir-et-Cher) with studio done northwest of London. GRADE: B-

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  EMI Films

  GB

• AS

  Associated British Productions (ABP)

Key crew

• ProducerBrian Clemens
• ProducerAlbert Fennell
• EditorAnn Chegwidden
• CastingRobert Lennard
• Assistant CameraBrian Cole
• Original StoryBrian Clemens
• Original StoryTerry Nation
• Assistant EditorIan MacGregor-Scott
• Makeup ArtistGerry Fletcher
• HairdresserAllan McKeown
• Production SupervisorJohnny Goodman
• Production ManagerSerge Lebeau
• Assistant DirectorKen Baker
• Assistant DirectorAlain Bonnot
• Assistant Art DirectorRoger Christian
• Construction ManagerStan Gale
• Set DesignerPhilip Harrison
• PropsRex Hobbs
• Assistant Art DirectorEric Simon
• Sound AssistantTerry Allen
• SoundBill Rowe
• Sound SupervisorA.W. Lumkin
• ADR EditorPeter Lennard
• Camera OperatorGodfrey A. Godar

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• france
• language barrier
• bicycle
• murder
• serial killer
• cycling
• tourists in peril
• french police
• abduction
• killer cop
• foreign country
• missing friend
• bike touring

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1971-04-03PG

Also known as

International titles

• Tödliche FerienDE
• Y pronto vino la obscuridadMX
• Il mostro della strada di campagnaIT
• és hamarosan sötétségHU
• hamarosan sötétségHU
• 黑暗降至CN