The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

"The Town That Dreaded Sundown" has amassed a sizable cult over the years. To some degree, I can understand that; there is some genuine merit to be found in this low budget independently made movie. Despite those circumstances the film was made in, the movie generally looks very good, from the cinematography to the production values. The movie is also often directed in a very interesting quasi-documentary style, which gives the package some credibility. The best thing about the movie, however, are the scenes where the phantom killer strikes. These scenes are surprisingly creepy even by today's horror standards.But as I hinted in my summary line, the movie is not perfect. There is some obvious padding throughout, though that may have been inevitable since the real life phantom killer only attacked eight people. Also on occasion, the musical score is both strident and annoying. But the biggest problem in the movie is the comic relief. The comic relief is not only unfunny, but it's heavy-handed and embarrassing.Despite flaws such as those I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I think the movie is worth a look. It's never boring, and it is an interesting precursor to what was to come just a few years later: The slasher genre. I know of at least one 1980s slasher movie that was heavily influenced by this movie. See if you can figure out which one that was.

This came out 2 years before the Grandfather of slasher movies (Halloween). Although some may claim there were at least one other slasher movie before the one John Carpenter did, Halloween put the slasher movie on the map. So what is this? And does it even qualify as slasher movie? Because the Killer that this is based on apparently did not kill that many people to begin with.The story takes other liberties too and some things may qualify for the slasher genre (mask, some of the killings, the way the Killer "hunts" his victims, inventive killings, although the one with the trumpet I don't quite get), but overall it has so many other tones in it, it's tough to make a case of Carpenter having stolen a blueprint here. There are moment were this slides into slapstick too (car going too fast scene). That doesn't change the fact though that this is still a drama, dresses as pseudo documentary, with voice over and all, to make it more legit.Good try overall, but maybe a bit too slow for audiences now (and who knows, maybe even future audiences in general). That's something you have to make your mind up yourself.

Following a string of murders, a small-town detective and his staff join forces to find the masked, anonymous killer stalking their small Texas town as he continually stays ahead of their efforts to contain and stop his rampage.This one wasn't all that enjoyable of an effort and had quite a few problems. Among the many problems here is the fact that there's quite a large amount of of absolutely dull and lame pacing that makes this one such a drag to get through. With the main part of the film based around the factual details of the spree and police procedural investigations into the incidents, there's way too much feeling like this one isn't concerned with appearing all that much as a true slasher film. Though it pays attention to the details of the real-life crime spree at the forefront of the film's story, these come at the expense of telling a true slasher story that it really seems to want to be as this one does drop the documentary vibe for the rather fun slasher scenes but once those are finished this one goes back to the rather pedestrian pace featured for the other scenes throughout here is where this one really gets caught up in too many other areas here that put this too much at a documentary-like feeling. As well, that's another factor here where the film's documentary feel is attributed to factors accomplished here that are just plain useless here, eating up time quite often throughout here when it's focusing on the rather lame investigations done by the officers, whether it be the comedy of the officers attempting to catch the killer by dressing in drag or focusing on the citizens out there without any sort of positive proof on them beyond being simply in the vicinity. It's all part of the final half here being so overlong filled with these deviations in the tone causing this one to feel so jarring while it's going away from the slasher-film aesthetics it should've had. On top of these issues, the film also manages to feature a few other problematic areas in that there's some patently ridiculous features that's highly unlikely to be true, as the film's signature highlight kill is not only pure speculation to have actually happened but is so clunky and bizarre it's just awkward, the killer's features are completely guessed at and it's filled with way too many lame gunshot kills that are really holding this one back. Even with these flaws there's a few that are well-done here. What really works nicely here is when the film drops into prominent slasher territory which manages to feature some rather enjoyable and fun slasher scenes. The opening attack on the couple in the car makes for quite a thrilling opening when the killer appears and gains entry into the car in quite aggressive fashion, a later stalking scene out in the woods where he manages two highly-enjoyable kills with the area coming into play, and the finale chase through the sand-pit through the train tracks and the surrounding swamps which is quite a nice finish here. The other of the film's strengths is that the killer is genuinely frightening. Sporting the potato-sack look with icy blue eyes staring out from small peep-holes, sucking the bag in and out as he rapidly breathes and his tense and hulking stance make like for a visually imposing killer whose aggression and mental instability is palpable. Otherwise, this one isn't all that enjoyable.Rated R: Violence and Language.

****SPOILERS**** True story of the notorious "Phantom Killer" who stalked the lovers lanes as well as homes of Texarkana Arkensas who ended up murdering five and wounding six, mostly teenagers, people in the late winter and early spring of 1946. Desperate to catch the elusive killer the town's sheriff office hired top Texas Ranger investigator Captain J.D "Lone Wolf" Morales, Ben Johnson, to track the "Phantom Killer" down. The killer dressed in baggy pants and wearing a burlap sack over his head seemed to have trouble breathing, he may have been suffering from asthma, but had no trouble out running the police or sheriff deputies! As well as him surviving getting shot and crawling into the nearby snake and alligator infested swamps or bayous where he was never seen or heard from again!In fact the truth of the matter is that the "Phantom Killer" was never shot or even seen, with his burlap shack off, by anyone and just disappeared, after his last shooting spree on May 3 1946, off the face of the earth. The movie has its share of suspense as well as terror as the hooded killer stalks the night and keeps the people in the town of Texarkana behind locked doors too terrified to wounder out, even to buy groceries, when the sun goes down. Capt. Morales together with Deputy Norman Ramsey, Andrew Prine, finally track the killer down walking , with his burlap sack on, down the road in broad daylight without a care in the world until he spots them and makes a run for it. Having no difficulty outrunning the pair, even after being shot, the "Phantom Killer" slips into the nearby swamps and, without any scuba equipment, goes underwater and makes his getaway!****SPOILERS**** The very unconvincing ending spoiled everything that was positive about the movie in turning the "Phantom Killer" into another, some four years before he made his film debut, Jason of "Friday the 13th" fame. In not being able to come up with a good ending it had to be fictionalized by the script writers to make it work. The film in fact ends some 30 years later in 1976 where we see the premier of the film "The Town that Dreaded Sundown" in the town of Texarkana and guess who's waiting in line to see it? The "Phantom Killer" himself, as we only see his well polished shoes or loafers, as he's limping on his way to buy his ticket at the box-office to see, I would assume, just how accurate the movie is about his exploits back in 1946!