AND SOON THE DARKNESS (1970)

Pamela Franklin and Clare Kelly

AND SOON THE DARKNESS (1970). Director: Robert Fuest.

Two young British women, Jane (Pamela Franklin of The Third Secret) and Kathy (Michele Doutrice) are on a bicycle trip through the countryside of France. Kathy is intrigued by a handsome stranger at one cafe, and refuses to go any further with the less-free-spirited Jane; the two have a fight and go their separate ways. Still, when Kathy disappears Jane tries to surmount the language barrier and find out what happened to her friend. To make matters worse, she learns that a young woman was murdered in this town two years earlier and her killer was never caught. Suspects for her disappearance and the earlier murder include the aforementioned stranger, Paul (Sandor Eles of The Evil of Frankenstein), who claims to be working for the Surete; a couple, the Lassals (Hana Maria Pravda and Claude Bertrand) who run an inn; a mentally-disturbed veteran; a British schoolteacher (Clare Kelley); and others. John Nettleton appears as a sympathetic Gendarme. And Soon the Darkness is not without flaws -- to create suspicion in the audience's mind over anyone and everyone, some of the characters behave much more weirdly than they might have -- but it is a very creepy and intensely suspenseful film that has good performances (although Franklin underplays too much), an effective score by Laurie Johnson (with the exception of the awful opening theme), and excellent widescreen photography of lonely, sinister vistas by Ian Wilson. There's a wonderfully macabre sequence involving a closet and a corpse late in the picture. Jane never asks Paul for his I.D. Very well directed by Robert Fuest [Dr. Phibes Rises Again]. Remade in 2010.

Verdict: Handsome and disturbing thriller. ***.

DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN

"Hackett isn't saying anything!"

DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972). Director: Robert Fuest.

In this sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes, the not-so-good doctor (Vincent Price) is after certain Egyptian scrolls that he hopes will bring his beloved Victoria (Caroline Munro) back to life, but first he has to get rid of anyone who might get to the scrolls first. Phibes' chief adversary is archaeologist Darrus Biederbeck (Robert Quarry of A Kiss Before Dying and Count Yorga, Vampire), but Phibes has absolutely no problem ridding himself of everyone in Biederbeck's party by various inventive, diabolical -- and often quite funny-- means. There's a fog that melts away flesh; a phone device that snaps a spike through the caller's ear; a body- crushing device; an attack by falcon; crawling scorpions; and the like, all served up with ghoulish and amusing relish. Peter Cushing, Beryl Reid, Fiona Lewis, Hugh Griffith, and Terry-Thomas have smaller roles, while Price himself seems to be having a ball.

Verdict: Gruesome and funny in equal measure, this is a sequel that's as good as the original. ***.

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES

Vincent Price

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971). Director: Robert Fuest.

Many years ago the wife of Dr. Anton Phibes died on the operating table,and he himself was incinerated in an auto crash. Or was he? Now the members of the medical staff who attended Mrs. Phibes are being murdered one by one, in manners that relate to the ten biblical curses of the Pharaohs. One poor man is attacked by blood-thirsty bats, while another is given a toad mask to wear that eventually crushes his head. Terry-Thomas has all of the blood removed from his body, quart by quart. The head surgeon, Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten) is warned by Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey) that his first-born son (Sean Bury) may be in deadly danger... The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a zesty, well-acted black comedy that is as gruesome as it as comical. Price [Tower of London], Cotten [Half Angel] and Jeffrey are all excellent. Phibes' lovely assistant Vulnavia (Virginia North) has no dialogue, and neither does Caroline Munro, who stands in for the late Victoria Phibes. Followed by Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Fuest also directed the terrible Devil's Rain.

Verdict: As delightful as it is appalling, and definitely not abominable. ***.

THE DEVIL'S RAIN

THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975). Director: Robert Fuest.

A small town is beset by a satanic cult run by Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), who has indoctrinated several members of the Preston family into the cult against their will. Mark and Tom Preston ( William Shatner and Tom Skerritt) do their best to fight Corbis after their mother (Ida Lupino) and others have succumbed. It all leads to a seemingly interminable climax where the title downpour melts all the satanists into blobs of flesh and putty. Keenan Wynn and Eddie Albert are also on board. The performances are certainly good, but the movie has no horrific or taut atmosphere and director Fuest never really works up enough suspense. The satanists all sport pasty faces with empty eye sockets and look like -- pun intended -- Hell. But isn't the whole point of devil worship to improve your life and, presumably, your appearance? It's enough to make one wonder why anyone would have willingly joined the group.

Verdict: We won't tell the Devil if you don't watch it. **.