For today’s featured film for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween, I stumbled upon this film when I was reading an article of exciting films to come out of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. The article contained a film that sounded interesting and it was a meta-sequel which means that they use the story of an original film and they run with it in a new way. The film is called The Town That Dreaded Sundown and I decided to watch the original version that came out in 1976. The film is loosely based on actual events that took place in Texarkana, Texas about a man known as the phantom killer who attacked couples only at night. The murders have gotten so out of hand that they have to hire a famous Texas Ranger named J.D. Morales (based on Texas Ranger Captain M.T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas) to try and find the killer before he kills way too many more. They changed the location from Texas to Arkansas and they also changed some of the names of the people involved in the film to avoid any legal action. The film stars Ben Johnson (The Wild Bunch) as The Lone Wolf, Andrew Prine (Gettysburg) as Deputy Ramsey, Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island) as Helen Reed, Director Charles B. Pierce (Coffy) as A.C. Benson, Steve Lyons (The Legend Of Boggy Creek) as Roy Allen, and Bud Davis (Manhunter) as The Phantom Killer.
The film’s narrator (Vern Stierman) at one point tells you that the killer unfortunately was never caught and that is actually a true fact. Pierce definitely took some liberties with the facts and it actually angered a lot of people especially residents of the actual towns that the murders occurred in. As one website stated that the killer did in fact attack eight people and the murders depicted in the film were pretty factual with some liberties taken (meaning some were exaggerated, etc.). The film at times feels more like a murder mystery film while when the attack sequences happen, then it feels like a horror film with some comedy thrown in the mix. I think that this is definitely one of the first times I ever heard of a killer in a horror film that uses a gun as a weapon which makes it different and sometimes different is a good thing. Some of the kill sequences in the film are OK while others are actually pretty creative like a knife at the end of a trombone (I believe that is what it was). The film isn’t gory in any way and there isn’t any sex in this film so if you’re looking for that, go elsewhere. Some of the dialogue in the film between the actors is pretty good for the most part. Ben Johnson and Andrew Prine are definitely my MVP’s of the film because their on screen chemistry is actually very good. This is definitely one to check out if you’re a fan of 70’s horror films and it’s available to watch right now on Youtube. I am going to give this film a B for a final grade.
Moshpits And Movies 