Blu-ray Film Review

And Soon the Darkness (1970) • Blu-ray [StudioCanal, Vintage Classics]

Two young English women go on a cycling tour of the French countryside. When one of them goes missing, the other begins to search for her. But who can she trust?

This could be what’s meant by a ‘taut thriller’. And Soon the Darkness takes a simple premise (a young girl goes missing), adds a slight story (her friend searches for her), then just stretches it out until the tension becomes uncomfortable. And as it finally crosses the line from slow-burn suspense to creeping dread, it takes us out of thriller territory and edges toward horror. I don’t think it would’ve worked so well if not for a perfect combination of talent coming together on both sides of the lens.

The story emerged from the minds of two of the greatest writers to work in British television during the 1960s and 1970s. One was the creator of the Daleks — no not Davros, but Terry Nation. By 1970 he’d quite the CV, having contributed three classic comedy scripts for Tony Hancock, including The Writer (1963)…