The Town That Dreaded Sundown

I expected it to be more entertaining. What can't be denied is the great gore and I don't remember if anything bloodier than this came out this year, but it has its downsides. For me, quite a slow and uninteresting pace with unlikeable actors, the retro look wasn't bad but I prefer a modern take, besides, a slasher without exposed breasts is like an action movie without action, which I also consider a slight downside here. The soundtrack was absolutely uninteresting and now I'm not sure if I even noticed any, and the suspense along with the atmosphere didn't work too well for me either, or rather there was hardly any. Towards the end, I was greatly pleased to see at least a very decent final twist that I didn't guess and the decent inventive murders during the film combine to make a digestible average that could have been a bit more entertaining. A little over 60% (10/20/2014)

For me, exactly between three and four stars, which is a pleasant surprise. The film is… well, actually… not a remake… neither a reboot… I don’t know, in 1976 there was this film, The Town that Dreaded Sundown, taking place in Texarkana and inspired by the real murders of the “Phantom Killer” during the 1940s. This year’s film takes place in the same town, in the present, and it works both with the original murders and as with original film, it even has the character of the son of the director of the original film, who speaks about the sequel to the original film he is supposed to make. Well. So the creators used the meta approach very popular today, but the film itself doesn’t feel at all like a modern and sterile remake, but actually incredibly retro. If the characters didn’t have mobiles and computers, I would have thought that it takes place in the 1980s and that the film is intentionally styled in the era. The cinematography also deserves praise, it’s amazing. The actors are alright, the atmosphere is good, the feeling is pleasant overall, and the murder scenes are also OK. The final twist is a quite insane, but that’s already usual in whodunits. Overall, a pretty pleasant surprise, we haven’t had such a good slasher-flick without additives for a long time. (10/19/2014)

I don't like remakes, but I have to say that I quite liked The Town That Dreaded Sundown. It's also because the original film is taken here as something given and is used as a basis, rather than being completely overhauled. At times, it's quite imaginative, at times very dull, and the excess of characters is essentially unnecessary; you could easily do without them. It would still work with fewer actors, but that wouldn't save the point. It's not very good. A nice average horror film. (05/05/2015)