Terreur sur la ville

Half of this film is done like a creepy documentary with a "serious guy voice over" and killing reenactments which are utterly brutal, nasty, misogynistic, and very very suspenseful. That half of the movie I would give ten stars. However the other half which follows a bunch of dumb cops with silly, out of place comedic shenanigans, complete with silly out of place comedic music to boot is an awful eye- and ear-sore! But, oh those killing scenes!!! You've got a guy who looks just like Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2 killing, biting, torturing couples but unlike F13 the the camera lingers on the attacks. He doesn't just pop out, stab someone and disappear, we get to see the whole nasty affair! Then its back to "Barney Fife" and the bumbling cops charade. Blechhh! Cool ominous ending though. Any horror movie fan should definitely check it out!

Proving that it's the totality of a person's work that should rightfully categorize whether someone has a talent for directing, The Town That Dreaded Sundown proves that there is more to Charles B. Pierce than his more well known albatross Beast of Boggy Creek II and to a lesser extent The Norseman. Centered in Texarkana, Texas in 1946 a series of assaults and murders by a man wearing a sack over his face turns the friendly town into a community that quickly becomes scared of it's own shadow. Ben Johnson as Captain J.D. Morales is called in to assist Texarkana Deputy Norman Ramsey in one of Andrew Prine's finest performances ever. Charles B. Pierce supplies the movie's comic relief as lead-footed hothead A.C. "Sparkplug" Benson that provides genuine bright spots in an otherwise dark movie. What makes this such an interesting story is that the case remains unsolved to this day as apposed to all the connect the dots maniacal killer movies that flood the market. There is no happy ending and sometimes the bad guy does win, just like in real life. A very underrated movie that isn't too long and yet pulls you as the storyline progresses. How many films do you know that have an attempted murder of Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island fame? Just one my man, just one. Well done Charles, I knew you had it inya!

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders and the ensuing investigation that took place from late February to early May, 1946, are chronicled with the names changed and details altered for dramatic purposes. Ben Johnson plays a renowned Texas Ranger on the case and Andrew Prine a formidable deputy sheriff. Dawn Wells shows up in the last act.

"The Town that Dreaded Sundown" (1976) is a crime docudrama that could be designated as an early slasher even though it's based on a true story. The sack the killer wears on his head was the inspiration for the mask Jason dons in "Friday 13th: Part 2" (1981).

Along with "The Legend of Boggy Creek" (1972) and "Grayeagle" (1977), this was one of B-film director Charles B. Pierce's more notable flicks and he appears in the movie as bumbling Patrolman Benson.

Speaking of which, there some curious attempts at comedy that are incongruous with the grave proceedings, which is reminiscent of the incompatible blundering cops in the original "The Last House on the Left" (1972).

I liked the 1946 setting with the old cars plus the fact that this basically happened in real life and inspires you to research the true story, just don't expect anything close to the greatness of "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). Have mercy, the budget was $400,000.

The film runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Texarkana on the Texas/Arkansas border, plus The Jack Williams Ranch in Garland City, Arkansas, with the train sequence done in Scott, Arkansas.

GRADE: B-/C+

Ben Johnson leads a Texarkana manhunt for a hooded serial killer. Aproximately every three weeks in 1946, random killings occurred, mostly in lovers lanes. The film has excellent post WW2 atmosphere, and is only weakened by voice overs, and some"Barney Fife" type humor that fails completely. The attacks are sometimes depicted rather darkly, but the hooded killer who does not speak, is memorable. One does sense a feeling of dread among the townsfolk throughout, and the police frustration is also well documented. Sometimes less is best, as is the case with "The Town That Dreaded Sundown". With no idea of who the masked menace is, his motivation, or as the open ended conclusion speculates, is he still out there, ones imagination is left to wonder. - MERK

Based on the true story of the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, this follows the case closely as a Sheriff's Deputy (Andrew Prine) and Texas Ranger (Ben Johnson) try to catch the killer dubbed The Phantom. The film does take a few liberties in order to be more cinematic (Prine narrowly missing the killer; the heroic duo confronting the killer on a railway line) but holds true to the fact that the killer was never caught. What really sets this apart is the amount of period detail that - coupled with the voice of a narrator - almost makes it seem like a documentary. The only down side is some forced comedy involving the bad driving habits of a Barny Fife-like deputy (oddly enough played by the film's director Charles B. Pierce). The film is begging for a widescreen release.