SOURCE-Shudder
This is a film I had heard about for years. Never saw it for rent back when I was in a video store every week renting movies. Never saw it airing on TV. Then during my decade in Southeast Texas I finally saw it. A buddy's mother was an extra in the film. And she happened to have a VHS copy of the movie. I watched it and found the film to be a bit slow.
Skip ahead 22 years and I was flipping through all the streaming services I have. Trying to find something to watch. Saw Shudder had this movie and put it on. This viewing I was glued to the screen.
Based on true events,this is set in the Texarkana area in the mid 40s. A person wearing what looks like a flour sack over his head is going to the various places teens would go park and make out.
This killer ,who still hasn't been caught,killed 8 people over the span of a few months. I'm betting whoever the killer was is dead by now. And I doubt we will ever learn who the killer was.
Now the cast of the film is mostly unknowns,with lots of local people making up the non-major parts. The only person in the film I knew was Dawn Wells,best known for being Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island.
The film has a very documentary style feel. There is a narrator,Vern Steirman,and the scenes of the attacks feel like the re-enactmonts from all the true crime shows that flood the cable tv channels currently.
I've always wondered if Jason's look in Friday the 13th part 2 is inspired by this film. From what I can find The Town that Dreaded Sundown was a cult hit. One of those films that most horror fans had heard of,but one that very few had scene.
Overall the film isn't bad. Sure it is a bit slow paced. And it doesn't contain the over the top violence you expect now from a slasher film. But if you go into the movie with all that in mind and aren't some ADHD kid you should enjoy it.
The Town that Dreaded Sundown gets a C+
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