Digital Dismemberment: The Town That Dreaded Sundown Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray and DVD Review
Director– Charles B. Pierce
Producer– Samuel Z. Arkoff, Thomas W. Moore and Charles B. Pierce
Special FX– Joe Catalanotto
Cast– Ben Johnson (The Wild Bunch), Andrew Prine (Grizzly), Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island), Jimmy Clem (Winterhawk), Bud Davis (Remington Steele) and Charles B. Pierce (The Outlaw Josey Wales)
Released By– Shout!/Scream Factory
Release Date– 5/21/2013
The Premise: “When two young lovers are savagely beaten and tortured on a back country road in Texarkana, local police are baffled. Three weeks later, two more people are slain in a similar setting and Deputy Norman Ramsey fears a pattern might be developing. Texas Ranger J.D. Morales is brought in to help. The two officers must find ‘the Phantom Killer’ before he can kill again.”
A curiosity in the horror genre to say the least, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a film that ties together real life events with a partial fictional ending. The film is loosely based on what the media dubbed as the Moonlight Murders that took place in the springtime of 1946 in Texarkana. Contrary to popular belief, the murders did not take place during a full moon, but all did occur late at night. The killer was never caught for these crimes, but there was speculation that he could have been arrested for other crimes he may have committed. The director received some flack for his advertising slogan of “In 1946 this man killed five people… Today he still lurks the streets of Texarkana, Arkansas” when the film was first released, but now the film is considered a piece of local legend and lore, even being screened at a yearly film festival in town. One of the most interesting characters in the film is Helen Reed, one of the survivors of the killer, played by Dawn Wells of Gilligan’s Island fame! Never thought I would see the day that Mary Ann would take two gunshots to the face! The humor in the film may push some of the more hardcore fans away, but it is not too over the top and helps bring a little levity to the events…
The film opens up on what appears to be a happy town not long after the end of WWII. Troops were coming home, businesses were opening, children going to school, but the events of springtime in 1946 in Texarkana are getting ready to take a turn for the worse. A man wearing a white hood begins terrorizing the town, starting with a young couple out for a night at the local lovers lane. The young couple are unaware of him until he disables their car and pulls the young man out, violently beating him about the head and face, leaving him with multiple skull fractures. He then chases the young lady off into the night. When we see her next, she has crawled to the road and it is morning. Though badly beaten and tortured, they survive their horrific event…
The police are baffled by the case, and things were quite for 3 weeks afterwards, but the Phantom strikes again. This time, instead of just beating and torturing a young couple, he brutally guns down the couple, in addition to binding the young lady to a tree and assaulting her with bites before shooting her. He narrowly avoids being caught by the police while making his getaway. The town begins to panic and the local law enforcement brings in a famous Texas Ranger to help assist them with case. The Ranger takes over the investigation and they set up a multi jurisdictional task force to catch the killer and begin to investigate what leads they have with little results, hoping that he does not strike again…
Curfews are set in the town and the police stop cars and people for ID checks, yet the searches still bear no clues or leads. Some individuals turn themselves in for the crimes, but none of them turn out to be the killer, giving wrong information about the murders. Tension continues to build in the town until the killer strikes yet again with terrifying ferocity. A young couple leaving a high school prom do not listen to the warnings not to go out after the prom and are brutally murdered near the center of town. More false leads take the police nowhere, and not soon afterwards, the killer strikes yet again, but this time at a residential home. He kills the husband, but the wife manages to escape after being shot in the face. The hunt for the killer continues, but he continues to elude law enforcement. Does the killer strike again or do the police ever catch him? You are going to have to watch the film to find out…
Bonus Features:
Audio Commentary– Historian Jim Pressley
Small Town Lawman– (Run time of 9 minutes) An interview with actor Andrew Prine
Survivor Stories– (Run time of 5 minutes) An interview with actress Dawn Wells
Eye of the Beholder– (run time of 12 minutes) An interview with Director of Photography James Roberson
The Phantom of Texarkana– Essay by Writer Bryan Albright about the director, his career and the film itself
BONUS FILM- the standard definition release of Pierce’s 1979 film The Evictors, starring Vic Morrow, Michael Parks and Jessica Harper
Theatrical Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery
Discs: 2
Format: NTSC
Color: Color
Rating: R
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1
Language: English
Shout!/Scream Factory once again brings a genre classic to DVD, and the careful attention to detail they paid to the transfer and the special features shines through once again. The film was never officially released on DVD before now, but this somewhat obscure title is a nice addition to any horror fans collection. The audio commentary by historian Jim Pressley helps to separate some of the fact from the fiction between the actual events and the fictional additions to the film, while the interviews with Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells and James Roberson help to give a unique perspective about the terrible real life murders, Charles B. Pierce and their time on set. The addition of the essay written by Bryan Albright touches on the same subject matter while providing more background on Pierce and his film work and is a welcome addition and worthwhile read. The Theatrical Trailer, the Poster & Still Gallery and the inclusion of Pierce’s 1979 film The Evictors (in standard definition) are awesome as well, once again showing that Shout!/Scream Factory is the standard bearer for Blu-Ray horror releases!
Movie Rating: 3.5 out of 5
DVD Rating: 10 out of 10
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