And Soon the Darkness [dir. Robert Fuest]

And Soon the Darkness from writer-producer Brian Clemens and director Robert Fuest (the Dr. Philbes movies) is an effective 'missing person' mystery thriller. Clemens, famous for the vintage Avengers TV series (nothing to do with the MCU, kids), also directed the Hammer flick Kronos - The Vampire Hunter, which featured a James Bond-ish protagonist as opposed to their traditional puritanical heroes.

Pamela Franklin (The Innocents, Legend of Hell House) and Michele Dotrice (who I mainly remember as the long-suffering wife of doofus Frank in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em) are two English lasses on a cycling holiday through rural France. With their comely looks and short shorts, the girls catch the eye of the local male population. Michele is getting bored of the lonely pedaling and not averse to a little attention, but Pamela is determined to (erm) carry on. This leads to a spat between the two friends when Michele decides to stay put in a lonely spot by the road, hoping for that young man on the motorcycle trailing them to make an appearance.

After hearing stories from the locals, a worried Pamela turns back for her friend only to find her missing. The man on the bike pops up again, behaving mighty suspiciously. Actually the whole neighborhood behaves suspiciously. While restrained in its depiction of violence or oppression, the film is a precursor to what would be known as the Backwoods Brutality genre. It helps that the girls are nicely rounded as characters; we do care when bad shit starts to happen to them in a foreign land. The film maintains the tension for a large part of the running time, even if it asks some of the red herring characters to behave in an unnecessarily cryptic/hostile manner. The climax isn't quite as explosive as one would have liked, but this was on the whole a good suspense flick.

A few words on the 2019 UK blu-ray from Studio Canal:

Visually the blu-ray is a marvel. During the opening credits, things are not so great, but immediately after, there is a remarkable jump in clarity, saturation and detail. The film might have been shot yesterday if not for the fashions, attitudes and the lack of teal filters. The lossless PCM 2.0 audio is fine too, easily supporting the modest requirements of the dialog and music score. Extras include two commentary tracks (one with the writer and director, and the other from film historian Troy Howarth) and a video piece by horror reliable Kim Newman. Newman gives his customary cheerful burble, trying to present the film as a 2nd generation British take on French inspirations from British film-makers like Hitchcock. He also goes briefly into the careers of writer Clemens, director Fuest and the two leads.