Episode Four: And Soon The Darkness (1970) & The Hitcher (1986)
Episode 4 – The Horror Double Bill: And Soon the Darkness (1970) & The Hitcher (1986)
In this episode of The Horror Double Bill, we explore two chilling roadbound nightmares that turn travel into terror. First, we examine And Soon the Darkness (1970), a sun-drenched British thriller where isolation in the French countryside gives way to dread. Then, we dive into The Hitcher (1986), a haunting, nihilistic American horror-thriller in which a lone driver picks up far more than he bargained for on the open road.
Both films use beautiful yet empty landscapes to generate feelings of isolation, and in this episode we discuss the use of space, cinematography, casting, and production stories, as well as the original critical reception and later re-evaluation of both films.
sources used for this episode:
And Soon the Darkness
StudioCanal Blu-ray (2021 edition):
https://www.studiocanal.com/
British Film Institute (BFI):
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/and-soon-darkness-daylight-thriller
Little White Lies retrospective:
https://lwlies.com/articles/and-soon-the-darkness-1970-retrospective/
Film Stories article:
https://filmstories.co.uk/features/and-soon-the-darkness-1970-british-thriller/
Hammer and Beyond blog:
https://hammerandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/06/and-soon-darkness-1970.html
Newspaper archives: The Guardian, The Times, The New York Times,
The Hitcher
The Hitcher (1986) – Second Sight Films 4K UHD Blu-ray Special Features (2024) : Interviews with Robert Harmon, Eric Red, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mark Isham, and John Seale:
https://secondsightfilms.co.uk/
"The Hitcher - How do these films get made" - feature included in the Momentum special edition DVD release.
Chris Broughton, “How we made chiller classic The Hitcher,” The Guardian, Oct 7, 2024:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/oct/07/rutger-hauer-chiller-classic-the-hitcher-thomas-howell
Roger Ebert, “The Hitcher,” Chicago Sun-Times review, 1986
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-hitcher-1986#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Hitcher%E2%80%9D%20grants%20the%20Hauer,movie%20is%20diseased%20and%20corrupt.
Newsweek review by Jack Kroll (quoted in Los Angeles Times, 1986)
Daily Variety & The Hollywood Reporter reviews (1986), quoted in Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-23-ca-10847-story.html📸 thehorrordoublebill
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The Horror Double Bill
Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, where we pair classic and modern horror films to explore the dark, the horrifying and the bizarre. Inspired by the legendary BBC2 horror double bills of the 1970s and 1980s, each week we discuss two films that share twisted themes, unsettling atmospheres, or strange connections
From the shadowy corridors of black and white classics to the paranoia-fueled chaos of the 21st-century, we take a deep dive into what makes these films memorable and the social context in which they were made. Expect discussions on film history, censorship, director profiles, folklore, and cultural anxieties.
Subscribe for unexpected pairings, and a celebration of horror as a feeling—not just a genre.New episodes every Sunday.
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- No. of episodes: 8
- Latest episode: 2025-07-06
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