The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Director - Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (American Horror Story, Glee)
Starring - Addison Timlin (Californication), Veronica Cartwright (Six Feet Under), and Anthony Anderson (Transformers)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Format - BluRay (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Fans of horror are stating that we are in a rut full of remakes and sequels.  First off, I love a good remake and sequel for obvious reasons.  They pick up where some of my favorite films left off or give a new take on a story I already love.  Those that bitch about this being a modern problem is a fucking idiot and clearly have no clue about horror from previous decades which is riddled with sequels and remakes.  Hell, one of John Carpenter's greatest film outside of Halloween (which has numerous sequels) is a remake of The Thing from Another World.  As for sequels, they have always been around.  Look at Romero's Dead series and the Universal monster films.   Sometime last years news spread across social media and the horror community alike about the upcoming Town That Dreaded Sundown and how the film was going to be a reboot/sequel.  Fans of the original were at arms with how the film does not need to be remade and "Hollywood" needs to start making more original films.  Like I said before, I love a good remake or sequel and when the chance arose to check out Town I reached out for a review copy and was kindly sent one.
     The film begins with the annual showing of The Town That Dreaded Sundown in Texarkana at the drive-in.  A young couple leaves and heads out to make-out lane for a little fun when a masked man forces them out of the car at gunpoint.  He then kills the young man and the young lady flees on foot to escape the madman.  The next day the town is in a frenzy over the murders and some are worried that the original killer behind the first murders is back at it again because the theater played the film.  The next night the masked killer brutally murders a returning solider and his girlfriend only sending the town further into chaos.  The young girl that survived the first attacks starts investigating while the police is at a lose.  More murders pop up prompting immediate action so the young girl starts chasing leads before she finally discovers that the killer was hiding right under her nose.
     Sequels traditionally pick up where the first story left off and continue down the character's path originally set forth in the first film.  We then have some sequels that do not take the traditional path and are only a sequel in title alone.  These films are usually released to cash in on the fame of the first film.  The Town That Dreaded Sundown is neither of these sequels.  Instead, it is a sequel to the the events that inspired the first film and takes place in the world where the murders were real.  Fucking brilliant.  The acting in this one is solid.  With that being said, it was actually a bit of a let down considering what it was.  I was expecting amazing performances from the entire cast.  Instead, what I saw would be considered mediocre and falls easily in to what I would consider Wal-Mart horror.  No one person's performance stood out to me and this was very upsetting.  The story for this one is more of the original but with a big twist.  The film takes place in the "real world" where the film was made to pay homage in a way to the murders that really did plague the small town.  Then when the movie was playing a killer starts killing in the manner that happened before.  This was bloody brilliant at making a sequel of sorts all while keeping the slasher vibe alive.  Sadly, this film falls short on character development which renders the story from reaching it's full power.  Finally, the film has several brutal kills.  These kills actually surprised me in it's ferocity.  Some of the kills actually pay homage to the first film which was pretty cool.  I only know this from fans of the original having never seen it myself.  With that being said, the kills are never shown thoroughly and we never get to see real blood and gore other than some bullet wounds and the like.  For a slasher, this is a huge let down.  Overall, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a decent slasher that cleverly adds itself to the lineage of the first film.  The kills are intense but lack the gore that slasher fans crave.  It is definitely worth a watch so check it out.