Plunge Into Darkness

On a remote stretch of road a recently retired track star and his wife encounter a strange boy and a murdered couple, turning a quiet moment into a high stakes ordeal. He bolts to the nearest town to fetch help while she stays behind to guard the boy and assess what has happened. As the couple grapples with what to tell the authorities, a darker threat moves closer to their location. Escaped convicts press the couple nerves and their sense of safety tightens with every minute. The night becomes a pressure cooker of secrecy, fear, and the choices that lie ahead. Night falls and shadows stretch along the empty highway, and a sense of fate weighs on every hard decision.

Plunge Into Darkness was directed by Peter Maxwell and produced for television in 1978. Project comes from writer Bruce A Wishart, with Bruce Barry and Olivia Hamnett leading cast, supported by Ashley Grenville and Tom Richards in roles for television.

As a TV movie, it did not have a traditional box office run. There is no widely reported theatrical gross, and the release was primarily through television channels, a common path for thrillers of that era.

There are no major awards listed for Plunge Into Darkness. In standard reference sources the film does not appear to have notable nominations or wins, reflecting its status as a television thriller rather than a mainstream cinema release and its largely unseen footprint outside of broadcast schedules and archives online.

Reception notes that the film leans into isolation and danger, building suspense through simple, steady pacing rather than big shocks. The tension between the husband and wife under pressure, plus the looming risk from the fugitives, explores trust, responsibility, and the limits of resilience. It invites quiet uneasy reflection now.