Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2014)

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2014). Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.

During a showing of an old motion picture about the murders that occurred in town decades before (the real-life Texarkana Moonlight Murders), someone gets the idea of starting up the slaughter again. This remake of the 1976 Town that Dreaded Sundown, expectedly, is more explicit and visceral than the original. The cast includes everyone from Veronica Cartwright and Ed Lauter [Family Plot] to Edward Herrmann (as a "reverend") and Gary Cole [Fatal Vision] as a chief deputy. Travis Tope makes an impression as  the newspaper man, Nick. In a contemporary (or homophobic?) twist, one of the couples murdered consists of two boys exploring their homosexuality with each other in a parked car. Although the style of the movie is at first off-putting, it is well-produced and suspenseful, with some good shocks and surprises throughout.

Director: Slick and often effective slasher. ***.

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