If such evil occurs during the day, it's a good thing that the sun never goes down in this British horror film set in the French countryside where two college age girls (Pamela Franklin and Michele Dotrice) are on a bike riding trip. After a silly argument, Franklin leaves Dotrice alone, and Dotrice faces a horrific mysterious attack, quickly disappearing. Franklin, desperate to find her friend, questions everybody in the area, but the language barrier and rude interactions with the closed off locales leaves Franklin with little information. Only a British schoolteacher (Clare Kelly), the local law (John Nettleton) and a detective from Paris (Sandor Elès) seem to offer her any help, let alone compassion. It is also obvious that among those three that one of them could be behind it all, and this puts Franklin in great danger.
For a young girl, Ms. Franklin is very resourceful, utilizing her brains to get out of one scrape after another, and not allowing her fear to cloud her judgment. There are violent exchanges between unhappy country inn owners Hana Maria Pravda and Claude Bertrand who seems like he's always in the mood to kill. What could have been obvious and very clear as to who is behind the disappearance (and a previous murder) does become deliciously complex, and while it does become apparent who the person is quite early on, that only leads to a horrifying chase through the countryside between them and Franklin is which is actually more nightmarish than anything that happened in the great outdoors in the wretched "Friday the 13th" slasher film series. Franklin, coming off a great success as the trouble making student in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", is quite amazingly likable and strong, making you root for her the entire way.
For a young girl, Ms. Franklin is very resourceful, utilizing her brains to get out of one scrape after another, and not allowing her fear to cloud her judgment. There are violent exchanges between unhappy country inn owners Hana Maria Pravda and Claude Bertrand who seems like he's always in the mood to kill. What could have been obvious and very clear as to who is behind the disappearance (and a previous murder) does become deliciously complex, and while it does become apparent who the person is quite early on, that only leads to a horrifying chase through the countryside between them and Franklin is which is actually more nightmarish than anything that happened in the great outdoors in the wretched "Friday the 13th" slasher film series. Franklin, coming off a great success as the trouble making student in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", is quite amazingly likable and strong, making you root for her the entire way.