By Maria Lewis
Where is the posthumous buzz for the meta remake of the cult ‘70s horror film?
On paper, everything should have worked. A slasher based on a series of horrendous real-life crimes? Tick. A meta-reboot of a kitsch horror movie from the ’70s? Tick. A cast packed with fan favourites giving gutsy performances? Tick. A director with serious genre pedigree coming off the back of four seasons of American Horror Story? Again, it’s a motherflippin’ tick. However, no one really cared about 2014’s rather excellent and totally underrated The Town That Dreaded Sundown. It even had the combined backing of Hollywood heavyweights Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy serving as producers. Yet whatever ancient burial ground the production seemed to film on certainly came back to claim its blood toll as when brought up in conversation – even among horror nerds – the responses usually range from “huh?” to “what?”.
The director himself, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, also seems surprised when you a) bring the movie up in an interview and b) mention that you’ve seen it. “Oh great, you’re the one person!” laughs the two-time Emmy nominee. “You and my mum!”
So why did The Town That Dreaded Sundown fade into the genre abyss? Like another horror gem we’ve spoken about in this column before, Byzantium, it was a good movie. Even the crutch of film Twitter arguments, Rotten Tomatoes, agrees: it was good enough to be certified 70 per cent fresh. There were positive responses from the likes of Time Out – who said it was “a clever concept and stylish execution” – and there were also negative ones, enter Variety with “gimmicky, mostly unscary results”.
It generated a following on the international film festival circuit ahead of its release, but for a film so visually striking and rich in backstory it should have made more of an impression. The movie is, of course, based off the real-life murder spree of the Phantom Killer that terrorised the town of Texarkana in the late ’40s. Targeting mostly couples and leaving five dead and three wounded in his wake, some criminologists have theorised that the attacks could have been the early work of the Zodiac Killer. The murders were never solved and at the time sent locals into a frenzy, with shops and homes locking up their doors at sundown and aggressively arming themselves.
In 1976 – two years before John Carpenter would define the slasher genre with Halloween – the story was brought to the silver screen in the schlocky The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Although widely panned and taking major liberties with the facts, over the years an audience grew to love its over-the-top and unashamedly schlocky nature. In fact, it became such a cult hit that every year for the past 15 years near Halloween it has played in a Texarkana public park. It was even mentioned in a throwaway line from Wes Craven’s Scream.
The 2014 version of the film is both a combination reboot and remake of the 1976 original, which seems a little hard to get your head around at first. It’s set present day, in a world where both the Phantom Killer’s crimes and the fandom surrounding the cult film exist. When the ‘moonlight murders’ start up again, it’s down to Jami (played by Addison Timlin) and a handful of locals to uncover who is trying to resurrect a horrific history.
The cast is stacked with talent, all spearheaded by Timlin’s excellent performance as the brassy, gutsy and intelligent Final Girl. Alien’s Veronica Cartwright is in there too, along with Anthony Anderson, Denis O’Hare, Gary Cole and some of the last performances from veteran actors Edward Herrmann and Ed Lauter before their deaths. It’s rare that a horror movie packs that calibre of seasoned pros, with Murphy regular Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Glee, Riverdale, Supergirl, Big Love, Looking) reworking the screenplay from Earl E. Smith’s ’70s take. Yet the real shining star is the direction, with Gomez-Rejon wielding Michael Goi’s cinematography like the deadly weapon it is. Bridging shots become breathtaking and scenes are played like theatre, with actors moving across sets that melt into each other like a stage. “It’s a weird movie,” the filmmaker admits. “But it has some fun visuals and I love the performances and the actors.”
For “all its problems”, Gomez-Rejon says that he “loves it” and it certainly worked as a showcase for his talents. The director moved on to larger projects like Me, Earl and the Dying Girl and the upcoming The Current War with Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Nicholas Hoult and Michael Shannon. “With Town… the movie was out and then it was over, no press and no junkets,” he recalls.
So, was that what hurt it? Word of mouth can do a lot for a film in this on-demand age, yet where is the posthumous buzz for The Town That Dreaded Sundown? Mostly, it’s not present. That’s something which is truly a shame given the meaty performances, boundary-pushing direction and overall glossy production as a whole. It’s also scary – genuinely scary – which is something the original never managed to be. Tension and terror are expertly utilised by a team of people who know how to do it and do it effectively.
In Australia, you can’t rent or buy the movie on iTunes. It’s not available on Stan or Netflix to stream, similarly Foxtel’s on demand service is a no go and you’ll have a better time picking up the 1976 original from physical retailers than the 2014 version. For now, trust is a big part of believing that The Town That Dreaded Sundown is worth remembering so, uh… trust us?
Maria Lewis is a journalist and author previously seen on SBS Viceland’s The Feed. She’s the presenter and producer of the Eff Yeah Film & Feminism podcast. Her debut novel Who’s Afraid? was released in 2016 with the sequel – Who’s Afraid Too? – out now. You can find her on Twitter @MovieMazz.