And Soon The Darkness (2010) Review

And Soon The Darkness is a thriller directed by Marcos Efron and stars Amber Heard, Odette Yustman and Karl Urban. This is the remake to the 1970 film by the same name and follows two girls Stephanie (Heard) and Elle (Yustman) who are on a  cycling trip through Argentina. Things go awry when Elle disappears causing Stephanie to frantically search for her friend all over Argentina.

Now without trying to compare the remake to the original, although it will probably come off that way, alone this film was very good. I say that because to me the original wasn't very good to begin with. It's rare that a remake is actually an upgrade to its predecessor but this was the case with this 2010 version. Amber Heard who is quickly becoming one of my favorite genre actresses played the role of victim and heroine very well. With numerous twists and turns this movie had a little bit of everything. Moments of both suspense and fear. Scenes that made you think one way then completely you pull you in the opposite direction. Just when you thought you had the storyline figured out...  BAM!  A monkey wrench gets thrown into the fray.

Now as I digress, comparing this film to the 1970's version can work one of two ways. You can say creatively back in the day movies weren't as obligated to scare you with gore and special effects but rather focused on its characters and the storyline. Or you could say that movies back then had it right and that telling a good story is the first and most important thing to any good film. Let alone a thriller. I say this 1970's version of the film lacked both story and suspense. It wasn't a thriller but rather a film following a girl and that's pretty much it.

The updated version of the film, given the opportunity to learn from the first films creative inefficiency kept both suspense and storyline as it's main priority. That's what made this remake, and one of many few to do so, better than it's original.

4 out of 5 stars