The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

A (semi) true story about a horrible killer.

Laura’s Rating: 1.5/5 Stars

Plot: Loosely based on the 1946 Texarkana Moonlight Murders, the movie is a semi-fictional documentary style story of an unknown killer in a small town.

Opinion: The use of a voiceover to make the movie feel like more of a documentary was interesting. Part of me liked the continuity it provided, but it resulted in a lot of telling rather than showing. It was like they had a bunch of disconnected footage and had to fit it together through narration.

There are some pretty spooky shots (especially in the cornfield) and the killer is definitely intimidating. You don’t really get to know many characters beyond a few members of the police force. The fancy investigator that they bring in to help doesn’t seem very effective at all. Overall, this movie is more interesting in concept than execution.