The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Loosely based upon the shocking and true case of the so-called ‘Texarcana Moonlight Murders’ which took place in 1946, director Pierce’s 1976 cult-slasher has all the ingredients to make for suspenseful watching but is ultimately let down by some inappropriate slapstick comedy relief that unnecessarily distracts from the terror which the killings created.

Welcome to Texarkana, an unassuming town sandwiched between the borders of Texas and Arkansas (in case the rather odd name of the town left you wondering). Like in most American small towns at the time of the killings, folks tried to get on with life and forget about the horrors of WW2… in particular the young generation who at weekends descended to dance halls, cinemas, fast food diners and above all, the so called ‘lover’s lane’ – a secluded area at the periphery of town where heavy petting and seat wetting took place inside parked cars on lonely roads. But in the late February that year a cold-blooded murderer called the Phantom Killer began a reign of terror that lasted until May and left the citizens of Texarkana fearing for their very lives. Just as in the real case, the film starts with the first attack on a young couple parked on the outskirts of town, where Linda and Sammy are about to get cosy. Suddenly, a hooded man savagely attacks the car and assaults the lovers though although badly injured, they miraculously survive.

Enter Deputy Norman Ramsey (the prolific Andrew Prine) who is under pressure to find the attacker before he strikes again. Together with the police chief, Ramsey puts out a warning to young students and ‘teenagers in love’, advising them from staying clear of parking in lonely roads. To no avail, for the next attack happens three weeks later and this time the two lovers, Howard and Emma, are brutally murdered. As panic begins to spread amongst the citizens of Texarkana, Ramsey and Sheriff Barker call upon the service of Captain Morales (Academy Award winner Ben Johnson) – the most famous criminal investigator in the entire county. It is from hereon that director Pierce decided to write a small part for himself into the script, namely as ‘Sparkplug’ – the hopelessly dopey driver of our investigating team. Quite what Pierce hoped to achieve with this piece of hokum is somewhat beyond me, for the bumbling character of Sparkplug would have been better suited to Blake Edward’s 1965 comedy The Great Race than to the eerie and disturbing goings-on in Texarkana.

Although the culprit is actually spotted by Ramsey at some point following an attack, he is never caught - just like the real-life Phantom murderer was never caught. After several more horrific attacks, the killings suddenly stopped in May of 1946. Rumour has it that the alleged Phantom Killer still haunts Texarkana to this day, although in the film he gets cornered by Ramsey and Morales and is shot after a chase involving train tracks… only to suddenly disappear again! In the last frame, which is set several years later, The Town That Dreaded Sundown premieres in Texarkana (yes, another one of those oh so popular film-within-a-film jokes) and the mysterious Phantom murderer seems to stand in the ticket line – recognisable to us only by his shoes.

There are indeed very tense moments to be had in this film, and the main cast including Johnson and Prine deliver the goods in believable fashion. The mysterious killer (played by stuntman cum actor Bud Davies) delivers the shocking blows in spades, and it thanks to cinematographer Jim Robertson that the nightly attacks come across all the more chilly! Even Bolivian composer Jaime Mendosa-Nava’s inspired little soundtrack adds that certain extra thing. If only the pointless comedy stunts would have ended up on the cutting room floor…

This Eureka! Dual Format release features the following EXTRAS:

• Brand new 1080p high-definition transfer
• Progressive DVD encode
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Trailers for both the original and the 2014 remake
• Interviews with stars Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells, and director of photography James Roberson
• Feature-length audio commentary with historians Justin Beaham and Jim Presley
• Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by critic Mike Sutton, reproductions of original Sundown ephemera, illustrated throughout with production stills.