31 Days of Horror – The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)





Dragnet and The Keystone Cops meet Jason Voorhees in this movie about a serial killer stalking the town of Texarkana, Texas.  Loosely based on the actual investigation of the Phantom Killer, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is almost an insult to B-movies everywhere.  This movie bounces around so much between comic relief, tense stalker action, and formulaic crime drama, it’s really hard to pinpoint whether I like it or not.  I think this is one of those instances where you just have to see it to understand and will either love it or hate it depending on your take of it.

Directed by Charles B. Pierce, the movie stars Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells, and Robert Aquino.  A sequel to the movie is set to be released this month with the same title.  After viewing this version, I’m not sure if it’s something I would want to watch in the theaters and I may just wait for Netflix to attain the rights…


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