In the spring of 1946 in the town of Texarkana five people were murdered by a Phantom Killer. "The Moonlight Murders" saw the deaths of five people and three others attacked by a killer who was never caught and never found. The legend of the Phantom Killer persists today thanks largely to a terrifying film from 1976 titled The Town That Dreaded Sundown directed by Charles B. Pierce. Based on the real life events of 1946, the film is one of the first horror films of its kind, a body count film featuring a masked killer. A sub-genre of horror lovingly referred to as a Slasher Film.
65 years after the horrific true events the town of Texarkana annually purges its demons by watching the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Teenagers flock to the drive-in-theater to watch this bloody docu-drama. Two of the kids decide to leave and visit one of the actual locations where the original murders took place. A man in a mask watches them from the trees. He approaches them. Pulls a gun on them. And kills the boy. He whispers to the girl, "Make them remember Mary."
A copycat killer plagues modern day Texarkana patterning his murders after the original killer and staging them like the 1976 film. The police try to piece it together all the while more people are dying in brutal horrible ways. It seems that the girl Jami, whom the killer let go after the first murder, is the only one on the right track, researching the original murders and figuring out what's going to happen next. But the killer is watching her and he sees Jami hasn't made them remember Mary...
This film is intense. The murders are vicious. Don't watch this film unless you have a strong stomach. Just my little words of warning. After watching a PG-13 horror film I welcomed this obviously hard R rated film. There are horror films that a PG-13 rating only detracts from the film. This film needed to be an R rated feature to have that extra impact lest it fade into obscurity.
This film approaches the subject matter from an interesting angle. At first glance it's a remake. On further inspection its a film about a film about a piece history that still haunts the residents of Texarkana. Its a film based in real world Texarkana where the original 1976 film exists and is watched annually. So it's a really cool way to approach a remake and the film gets high points because of this.
Another part of this film which is so enthralling is the Phantom Killer. The design of the character is so simple yet so frightening, evocative of classic horror icons like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. In truth though the Phantom Killer was first. If you recall Friday the 13th Part II completely stole this design for Jason. There is something so terrifying about this image that continues to scare even today. One of my favorite slasher designs in cinema.
In the end there of course were some cliche moments and standard bad acting which brought it down a bit. But what keeps this one from disappearing into the ether and being forgotten is the brutality and the power of the Phantom Killer. It gets my approval.
Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 5 out of 10
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