THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN
Before May 2013, I was totally unaware of “The Town
That Dreaded Sundown”, either the original film or the impending
remake. However in that month a blu-ray of the 1976 original was
released which I bought blind and watched straight away. I was
surprised by the fact that I didn't respond to the film as I was
expecting to, as it seemed the kind of film that normally right up my
alley, but I wont deny the fact that the killer wearing a sack on his
head to conceal his identity was more than a little creepy. Knowing
that a remake of the film was soon to come out, I held out little
hope that it would be worth watching, which seemed to be confirmed
when the very generic trailer for the film came out. The end product
was a totally different kettle of fish though, as the 2014
incarnation of “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” turned out to be a
brilliant horror film that, whilst tipping its hat to the original,
also had its own identity entirely.
There are a number of reasons for this film being great,
chiefly among them is the incredibly smart way this remake was
conceived. For those that do not know, the original version of “The
Town That Dreaded Sundown” was actually based on a real crime spree
that took place by an unidentified killer (nicknamed “The Phantom”)
in Texarkana back in 1946. The 1976 movie dramatises these true
events in a kind-of pseudo documentary style. The remake, though, is
set in the present, again in Texarkana, where the town has finally
put aside and forgotten the horrible crime of its past and the film
that was made about it. The younger generation living in the town
today barely know anything about the crimes, let alone the movie it
spawned, until it is all brought back into the spotlight when a
copycat killer starts murdering people in the style and order as in
the original film. Once again the town of Texarkana must face its
past, a past they appear doomed to ever be able to forget. It is as
meta an idea as you can get, but it is handled so well that it never
comes across as overly clever or smug; instead it seems like the
perfect solution on how to make a remake / sequel whilst still
staying true to the original.
The other reason this film is so good is because of
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's energetic and flamboyant direction. This film
is so stylish and stylised with a number of awesome camera shots and
angles, but Gomez-Rejon never lets the visual pyrotechnics sacrifice
the story. While the film basically turns into a slasher,
Gomez-Rejon does an excellent job of elevating the material through
the creation of a number of set-pieces that are full of suspense
before the inevitable pay-off. As I mentioned earlier, the original
film is referenced regularly but never in an on-the-nose type
fashion, in fact it is weaved into the actual plot of the film.
Unfortunately, this film does have one shocking flaw which is its
unneeded twist ending. The whole idea of it is a total misjudgement
on a grand scale; it never works and sadly, I even guessed the said
twist well before its reveal (although I was praying I was wrong
about it the whole time). As bad as this moment is (and believe me,
it is bad!), the rest of “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” was so
good that I consider the film a great horror experience. And this
for a film I was expecting nothing from...........colour me
surprised!
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