poe-48833
What would you get if you took John Carpenter's classic HALLOWEEN and removed any and all suggestion(s) of the supernatural? That's right: THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN. The fact that this one's based on facts (to a degree) is all the more terrifying. While I'm no fan of slasher films (much less GORY slasher films), movies like this one- based on Real Life incidents- hold a morbid fascination. The almost palpable TENSION in THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN stems directly from the fact that it's "based on a true story." Filmmaker Pierce quite naturally takes some artistic liberties with the story, but the overall effect is still downright chilling. In this one, we find the template for most of the slasher films that would follow in the wake of HALLOWEEN (including, to a degree, HALLOWEEN itself). The idea that they never really nailed this guy is all the more frightening- even in retrospect.
Kaat1220
Andrew Prine turned in a solid performance, but Bud Johnson appeared as if he were reading from a cue card. If you can tell someone is trying to act, they are not doing a great job.Although Dawn Wells was only in the movie for a brief time, she gave a solid and memorable performance as Helen Reed. I must say that while I did enjoy this movie for the horror, there is one actor who stole every single scene, and that is Charles B. Pierce as Spark Plug.A director who can actually act - a rare breed. He was absolutely adorable and hilarious.Spark Plug rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lary9
This movie was incredibly bad. It was literally an insufferably amateurish attempt at lurid, psycho-sexploitation cinema. For 1976, it was so anachronistic that it had the feel of a 50s B-movie. It featured Ben Johnson in a wooden role and the character of a local bumbling deputy, who was supposed to be comic relief, but his buffoonery was inserted so awkwardly that it simply added more pitiful misery to the town's overall effort. A truly horrible film...yet somehow, like a train wreck, I couldn't seem to stop watching as I prepared for the next ridiculous encounter with an inept, helpless screaming prom queen. Afterthought: where were all the guns? Texarkana...and no one had a gun until 4/5ths of the film was done?
trashgang
This flick here is much spoken among the horror geeks. their are a few reasons why, because it's based (loosely) on the real Texarkana Moonlight Murders. A serial killer called the Phantom Killer that had never been captured even as their were survivors of his killing spree. So it was a hot thing for years in the city itself. On the other hand this flick never had a proper release digitally until in 2013 when it finally hit Blu Ray. Therefor it was out there only on VHS and a lot of bootlegs DVD's.A hot item indeed and liking flicks about real serial killers I had to catch me a copy to see what's it all about. Being made just before the slasher era but at a time horror was to become the next big thing, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) just delivered the goods, it's a bit low on the gore site but still it is watchable. maybe for some it can be outdated because it moves slowly and the killings aren't that creepy at all but it's the killer who delivers the goods. His way of hiding his face is notorious and is seen in other flicks (Fridat The 13th part 2 (1981) and Nightbreed (1990). If you are into serial killers then this is a must see even as it is loosely based on the real killings still some parts did in fact happen back then. It's slow and doesn't has the scary parts like it should but worth picking up for many reasons.Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5
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