It seems that remakes have become so popular within the past ten years that studios are actually remaking films that they think could have been made better. At least that’s what I have been told by my friends and colleagues who have seen the original 1970 film, And Soon the Darkness. The films have their differences with the remake set in a small village in Argentina whereas the original British thriller was set in France.
The film is about two young women, Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie (Odette Yustman) who find the small village in Argentina to be the perfect exotic getaway. After a long night of meeting men and bar hopping, the girls get into a verbal fight , and Stephanie heads out to cool down a bit. Upon her return, Stephanie realizes that Ellie is missing and it seems that she might have been kidnapped. Stephanie turns to the police, but they don’t seem to care. She enlists the help of an American and ex-pat who is staying at the same hotel. They go on a search and try to find Ellie, but all is not as it seems and Stephanie finds herself in more trouble that she anticipated.
I’m not going to sugar coat my opinion about this film. It is, for the most part, a basic suspense thriller with very little gore and horror violence. This film is more in the vein of recent abduction films like Taken and The Disappearance of Alice Creed, with a tropical horror feel like Touristas and Vinyan. However, the plot is more basic, the script sets itself up nicely within the first act and altogether, the film moves along very nicely and is easy to watch and understand. The acting is decent and the locations and sets are well used.
The Blu-ray has many special features, including commentary with director Marcos Efron, editor Todd Miller, and director of photography Gabriel Beristain. The disc also includes director Efron’s video diary with behind-the-scenes footage from the set. There are also deleted scenes and English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired as well as Spanish subtitles.
Overall, while I can’t compare this remake to the original film, I can say that And Soon The Darkness was neither great nor bad. It’s a decent film, which is well worth checking out if you want a decent suspense thriller. It kept my interest and I found it to be a worthy film, but nothing so over-the-top to call it a cinematic masterpiece. It is a film that is worth watching if you are up for a good mystery thriller and have some time to kill.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
