ADDITION: Kino 4K UHD (August 2024): Kino have released two British 70's thrillers; Robert Fuest's And Soon the Darkness and John Hough's Sudden Terror aka Eyewitness to 4K UHD. Kino had released both separately on Blu-ray in 2019 - and we reviewed them HERE and HERE.

Like 4K UHD transfer of The Long Wait, and I, the Jury, and many others below, Kino's 2160P transfers of And Soon the Darkness and Sudden Terror do not have HDR applied (no HDR10, HDR10+, nor Dolby Vision.) We have seen other 4K UHD transfers without HDR; Mondo Macabro's Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf, Cult Films Django 4K UHD, Umbrella's 4K UHD transfer of Peter Weir's The Last Wave and Criterion's 4K UHD transfers of I Am Cuba, The Others, Rules of the Game, Branded to Kill, In the Mood For Love, Night of the Living Dead and, further examples, Masters of Cinema's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and Kino's 4K UHDs of Nostalghia, The Apartment, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars, In the Heat of the Night, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as well as Koch Media's Neon Demon + one of the 4K UHD transfers of Dario Argento's Suspiria.

Many complain when 4K UHD transfers do not have the exuberance off an HDR pass. Others state the resulting image with HDR is revisionist. But it was very evident on my 65" system that this was an apparent upgrade. The higher 2160P resolution brings out sharpness, slightly superior balance (colors and contrast) that is hard to quantify in static captures. Both these films - more prominently And Soon the Darkness - look better / smoother in-motion. Depth is more prominent. Of course the degree of improvement will be directly proportional to the size of your system. Easily, these two Brit thriller films have never looked this good for home theater consumption.   

NOTE: 92 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages recently: The Case of the Bloody Iris (software uniformly simulated HDR), Reptilicus (software uniformly simulated HDR), Risky Business (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Conversation (software uniformly simulated HDR), Perfect Days, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (software uniformly simulated HDR), Le samouraï  (software uniformly simulated HDR), Castle of Blood (software uniformly simulated HDR), Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (HDR), Fist of Legend (HDR), American Gigolo (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Long Wait (no HDR,) Bound (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Valiant Ones (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mute Witness (software uniformly simulated HDR), Narc (software uniformly simulated HDR), Peeping Tom (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Terrors House of Horrors (software uniformly simulated HDR), High Noon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Criterion) (software uniformly simulated HDR), I Am Cuba (no HDR), The Demoniacs (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Nude Vampire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Nostalghia (no HDR), Werckmeister Harmonies (no HDR), Goin' South (software uniformly simulated HDR), La Haine (software uniformly simulated HDR,) All Ladies Do It (software uniformly simulated HDR), Old Henry  (software uniformly simulated HDR), To Die For (software uniformly simulated HDR), Snapshot (software uniformly simulated HDR), Phase IV (software uniformly simulated HDR), Burial Ground (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dark Water (software uniformly simulated HDR), Fear and Desire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (no HDR), Paths of Glory (software uniformly simulated HDR), Southern Comfort (software uniformly simulated HDR).

Both titles have upgraded audio from 16-bit DTS-HD Master on the Blu-rays to 24-bit on the 4K UHD. The audio on And Soon the Darkness is fairly passive in terms of effects but has a fabulous Herrmann-esque score by Laurie Johnson (famous for The Avengers TV series theme, Dr. Strangelove, First Men in the Moon, Hammer Studios' Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter and many more) that has deeper bass.

Sudden Terror also has two commentaries. The first is by John Hough and writer / producer Bryan Forbes (The Wrong Box, The Whisperers.) Hough is known for Twins of Evil (1971), The Legend of Hell House (1973), and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry with Susan George. The second commentary is by favorites Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson (FrightFest Guide to Vampire Movies.) They discuss the production, stars Mark Lester, Susan George and Lionel Jeffries director Hough and plenty more. Lastly trailers for Sudden Terror and Eyewitness are offered. The package has no liner notes nor supplementary discs. There is a slipcover with appealing art.

And Soon the Darkness would probably be considered the superior of the two films - although I'd say that I appreciate them equally. Darkness was the first movie made under Bryan Forbes at EMI Elstree - formerly known as EMI Films. The second was The Man Who Haunted Himself with Roger Moore. The plot of And Soon the Darkness follows Jane (Pamela Franklin - The Innocents, Hammer's The Nanny) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice - The Witches, The Blood on Satan's Claw, also the the long-suffering wife of Michael Crawford's Frank Spencer on the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em) are two young nurses from Nottingham who are taking a cycling holiday through rural France. But Cathy has disappeared.... and an unsolved rape and murder of a young woman that occurred in the town three years before. I've always found it a well crafted women-in-peril thriller. Sudden Terror, shot entirely in Malta, has Mark Lester as an imaginative lad who really does see the perpetrator of a political assassination but is confronted with adult disbelief. So there are some similar themes of Cornell Woolrich's short story "The Boy Cried Murder", or the adapted RKO's post-war noir thriller The Window with Barbara Hale (Perry Mason's Della Street), Ruth Roman (Down Three Dark Streets, Tomorrow is Another Day) and Radio, Television and Disney child actor Bobby Driscoll. Actually Sudden Terror was based on a 1966 novel by Mark Hebden involving an assassination attempt on the French president (ala The Day of the Jackal.) Sudden Terror has many interesting cinematographic angles - by DoP David Holmes (another of the many connections to The Avengers TV series.) I thought Lionel Jefferies (The Railway Children, First Men in the Moon) was excellent and I don't suppose I'll ever get over my crush on Susan George. I have the feeling that this is a somewhat neglected and better-than-you-might-think Brit thriller for many. The Kino release represents our first review of a double-feature sharing one 4K UHD disc. I love the idea - especially for TV series as you could add more episodes than Blu-ray can hold. Kino have upgraded both film's a/v; 2160P and 24-bit audio. Repeated are the four expert commentaries. An engaging 70's thriller 'double feature' night for those keen - a keeper for me. 

Gary Tooze