The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014): 17 of 31 Horror Movies I've Never Seen

Remakes are a dime a dozen these days.  It's been a long standing issue in Hollywood that the studios seem to put all their faith in comic book films, remakes, and even remakes/reboots of comic book films made as recently as a few years ago.  In Horror, this was a trend that began as far back as the 90s with remakes of films like Night of the Living Dead, Psycho, The Haunting, and House on Haunted Hill.  These remakes, while not very good in some cases, managed to find the youth market of the 90s and has continued to do so well into the Millennium.  Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of remakes and reboots, but every so often I find something that surprises me.  The Town That Dreaded Sundown was remade this last year, produced by Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) and Jason Blum (Insidious).

The original film is loosely based on the Phantom Killer of the 40s, who went on a killing spree in Texarkana and was never caught.  This version is a 65 years later Meta-Sequel Remake.  That sounds like a bit of a mouthful, but that's the only real way to describe it.  It centers on the film, the town, the original murders, etc to create a wholly unique and satisfying slasher experience.  The central character of the story, Jami (Addison Timlin), is on a date at a drive-in screening of The Town That Dreaded Sundow (meta) when she and her date decide to leave and go to a near by secluded area where they are promptly attacked by a hooded killer who is dressed exactly like the Phantom Killer.  Her date is killed and she's left alive by the killer to "Make Them Remember Mary."  Traumatized by the experience she becomes obsessed with discovering who Mary is and trying to solve the mystery as the killer strikes again and again.

Characters in the sequel have the same names as some characters from the first one while others were invented for the purpose of the story, giving it that strange meta-sequel remakeness that I previously dubbed it.  The mystery is intriguing and the film is filled to the brim with all the tropes that make a good slasher movie.  I'm starting to wish I watched the original first because I feel like I may have gotten a little bit more out of this version.  There a few moments that seem to be directly recreating scenes from the first film, but I can't be certain, and it definitely references the film makers of the original as well, going so far to insert Denis O'Hare as the son of deceased director Charles B. Pierce.

What I liked most about the film is that they chose to stick with a mise en scene approach rather than the very choppy jump editing that characterizes much of American Horror Story.  It creates a dizzying effect and creates ample opportunity to build tension in otherwise cramped settings.  Couple that with some creative lighting and sound design and you've got yourselves one hell of a horror movie.

Filled to the brim with intense gore and a pace that is borderline relentless, The Town That Dreaded Sundown does not disappoint and even heralds the reboot of MGM subsidiary Orion Pictures.  Screened at Fantastic Fest as well as Beyond Fest in the states, the film hit theaters last Friday.  When you get the opportunity, buy yourself a ticket!

4 out of 5 skulls.