Runtime: 99 minutes
Directed by: Robert Fuest
Starring: Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice, Sandor Eles, John Nettleton, Clare Kelly
From: EMI Films/Associated British Production
Talk about real life horrors. This British movie set and filmed in France has been in rotation on one of the Shudder streaming channels as of late so that plus the premise inspired the viewing last night. I am a dumb man but just from assumption, the plot of “two pretty young British girls are bicycling across Europe and are currently in rural France” may sound terrifying to many women out there in 2023. The pair “having a row” and they separate, only for Michele Dotrice to go missing so Pamela Franklin has to try and find her when there are plenty of creepy people around and she barely speaks French”… that’s scary to me, so imagine if I was a woman in that scenario. If you’re like me and know only a few words of French, then the terror only increases as none of the dialogue spoken in that language is ever translated.
The opening credits are a light jaunty tune as we see the women traveling on their bicycles through some bucolic French scenery-to be specific, it is the farmland along with some wooded areas. After the credits, there is effective creepy music throughout that sets the mood as the viewer sees various suspicious characters who may or may not play much of a role later on. Once her friend disappears, Franklin is lucky that she runs into more than one English-speaker, but Paul is a young man who acts especially peculiar, so she and the viewer has no clue if they can trust someone so erratic.
Admittedly, there are some “hey, wait a minute” moment concerning what the viewer sees. Even then, I was enraptured by this film. The combination of the methodical pacing, the chilling score, the odd rural residents, and Franklin’s strong performance captivated me. Some time was spent deciding how to rate the movie; ultimately, I went with the higher score despite some minor nitpicks that could be made. The mood and atmosphere enveloping me played a key role in my enjoyment. By the by, Studio Canal did a masterful job in restoring the movie; it looked great on Shudder.
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