AND SOON THE DARKNESS was originally a highly effective, not to mention realistic, British thriller of the 1970s about a couple of hitchhikers running afoul of a psycho. This slick Hollywoodised remake shifts the action to Argentina and on a bigger scale, as a couple of tourists find themselves running afoul of a sinister mini-conspiracy. It's not really a surprise to find out that this is by far the lesser picture, an insipid outing that doesn't even come close to matching the original's suspenseful nature.
Instead what we get here is slick and glossily photographed, a film more interesting in shooting Amber Heard in her bikini than building any kind of suspense or tension. There's a slow build-up and then a pay-off that pays homage to HOSTAGE in its depiction of tourists abroad running afoul of nasty locals, although the Melissa George-starrer PARADISE LOST is a more obvious lookalike here. We're in torture porn territory again, albeit in a sanitised form, and the action, when it comes, is strictly routine and plays out without the slightest bit of tension. The biggest regret lies in the casting of the great Karl Urban, who has absolutely nothing to do in his minor role.
Instead what we get here is slick and glossily photographed, a film more interesting in shooting Amber Heard in her bikini than building any kind of suspense or tension. There's a slow build-up and then a pay-off that pays homage to HOSTAGE in its depiction of tourists abroad running afoul of nasty locals, although the Melissa George-starrer PARADISE LOST is a more obvious lookalike here. We're in torture porn territory again, albeit in a sanitised form, and the action, when it comes, is strictly routine and plays out without the slightest bit of tension. The biggest regret lies in the casting of the great Karl Urban, who has absolutely nothing to do in his minor role.