Kino journeys to France for a pair of vintage ‘70s thrillers
I’m not sure there’s been a country that’s been idealized on film more than France. From the glittering lights of Paris to the tranquility of the country and seaside, it’s hard to find a locale that’s more cinematic. Tales of romance, adventure, historical epics, and even fantasies rich with magical realism have all been explored and have thrived using one of the most famous lands as their backdrop. From Dangerous Liaisons to Moulin Rouge! to Midnight in Paris, films and filmmakers have been swept away by the country of France and have likewise been able to transport their audiences through a collection of stories greatly influenced by one of the most recognizable countries in the world. Yet as dreamy and ethereal as France can make lovers of cinema feel, the country also makes a great settings for films of terror and suspense. Romantic as it may be, there’s nothing more terrifying than stories of fear being played out in one of the most gloriously captured places on earth, as seen by these two prime examples of ‘70s France-set thrillers.
Set in the heart of the idyllic, if eerily remote, French countryside, And Soon the Darkness centers on two British friends, Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice), who are enjoying a summer holiday by cycling through the back parts of France. When Cathy goes missing, Jane begins an endless, panic-driven search for her best friend, whom no one claims to have seen. Meanwhile, in The Deadly Trap, Faye Dunaway stars as Jill, an American living in Paris with her computer programmer husband Philippe (Frank Langella) and their two children. While life in Paris has left Jill on edge from the start, her sanity is put to the real test when her children are kidnapped and held for ransom, pushing her to the brink of desperation.
Had And Soon the Darkness waited just one more decade, it might have been a contender for categorization as one of the infamous “video nasties.” Well, perhaps not THAT extreme. Still, there’s definitely something exploitative about this simple, yet effective thriller. Even though it’s the setting for a horrific act, the French countryside just cannot help but come across as anything other than exquisite and dreamlike, especially when drenched in the summer sun. In fact, in a way it’s the scenery itself which is perhaps the biggest culprit. The remoteness where little life exists makes Jane come across as even MORE isolated than she was already feeling thanks to the language barrier, while an extended series of shots featuring Cathy relaxing under a tree in the grass as she bathes in the sun shows the beauty and danger of a young woman freely letting her guard down as the result of the peace and tranquility she feels around her. The plot mechanics work in a familiar way so that eventually all there is to do is decide which one of the shady characters Jane finds herself encountering might be responsible for Cathy’s disappearance. There’s definitely a roughness to And Soon the Darkness which really dominates its final act, but none of the violence is powerful enough to diminish any of the movie’s surprisingly potent suspense.
The double score of Bonnie and Clyde and The Thomas Crown Affair wasted no time turning Dunaway into a star. It did however leave her with a small handful of films that, for whatever reason, failed to generate much follow-up interest. The Deadly Trap is one such title. This 1971 thriller is a rarity for fans of the actress in that it’s one of the few times she ever portrayed a mother on screen. Mommie Dearest notwithstanding, Dunaway almost never took on a role which was driven by her being a mother. The actress’ entire performance is driven by this characteristic all throughout The Deadly Trap as she tries to maintain both a grip on her sanity and an actual hold on her two children who accidentally keep getting lost. Paris figures in well in The Deadly Trap, especially where Jill is concerned. As she has more or less assimilated to the culture, she’s still very identifiably American. This gives her two separate identities to cling to, which in a way makes her an invisible woman to the city; a ghost who finds it easy to disappear in the vast Parisian metropolis. The threat may be real, but the thrills in The Deadly Trap are purely psychological as Jill battles her own subconscious in an effort to get her children back. It’s a moving portrayal of fragility and desperation in a film set within a city that epitomizes a highly romanticized idea of life.
While it seems that both films share very little other than era, genre, and country of filming, nothing could be further from the truth. Both And Soon the Darkness and The Deadly Trap are seeped in the mood and culture of the country through the way the French people in each film look upon their panicked heroines with both caution and curiosity. This is true of both the sunkissed solitude of the country in the former and the bustling energy of Paris the latter, with each film’s protagonist perfectly illustrating the horrors of being a stranger in a strange land. The country has proven to be a great setting for films of the horror/thriller variety in the decades since both films were released, with titles as vast as Roman Polanski’s Frantic and An American Werewolf in Paris both using the setting of France to potent effect. There’s no concrete reason as to why the country proves to be such a great landscape for stories like these. Maybe the reason France is perfect is because it’s hard to find too many other locales rich in a sort of dreamy idealism that makes it easy for someone to let down their guard and let the darkness find them.
And Soon the Darkness and The Deadly Trap are now available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.