Review of The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) by Everett W — 24 Aug 2015
Based on the true story of the unsolved Phantom killings this film suffers from an identity crisis, does it want to be a slasher? a docudrama? a murder mystery or a bumbling cop crime caper? It attempts to be all and so slightly misses the mark.
It does have some influence on films that came after it the hooded killer breathing heavily as he stalks is truly menacing but not in keeping with the light feel to other parts of the film. The narration actually takes you out of the story far too often making more difficult to fully invest.
All in all even in it's day this must have seemed a bit dated in comparison to say Black Christmas that came out two years prior. All this isn't to say it's not a good film it has it's charms and is based on a truly fascinating true unsolved case.
If you are looking for all out Horror film though the remake / follow up reboot might be worth a look.
This review of The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) was written by Everett W on 24 Aug 2015.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown has generally received mixed reviews.
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