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The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Play trailer Poster for The Town That Dreaded Sundown R Released Oct 16, 2014 1h 25m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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66% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
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The Town That Dreaded Sundown

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

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Critics Consensus

It may occasionally mistake more gore for genuine terror, but The Town That Dreaded Sundown is just stylish and clever enough to justify this second stab at the source material.

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Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Romney Observer (UK) With its small-town atmospherics, a juicy supporting cast of character players, plus Addison Timlin's personable, plucky "final girl", this Town is pulled off with polished, enjoyable brashness ... Rated: 3/5 Apr 19, 2015 Full Review Geoffrey Macnab Independent (UK) This is an exercise in nostalgia as much as bloodletting. The filmmakers are paying their very own tribute to teen-horror pics of the 1970s. Rated: 3/5 Apr 16, 2015 Full Review Wendy Ide Times (UK) Not a straight remake of the 1976 cult horror movie, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is more a self-referential homage that takes the original film's legacy and embellishes it. Rated: 4/5 Apr 16, 2015 Full Review Joe Lipsett Bloody Disgusting ...that's my larger overall problem with The Town That Dreaded Sundown: it makes the capital mistake of thinking that graphic violence and visual panache is enough to keep its audience entertained. Feb 22, 2020 Full Review John Bleasdale CineVue So much obvious thought has gone into making the film visually striking that the script seems to have gone unread. There's no other explanation for the woeful stupidity of some of the characters' actions and the blandness of the dialogue. Rated: 2/5 Apr 4, 2019 Full Review Bill Graham The Film Stage While its tone wildly varies, when it comes to the glut of horror remakes, it's a slight step ahead of the standard batch. Rated: C+ Mar 2, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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K K "The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 2014 American slasher film" 1 Ok here we go, I am watched this movie on Tubi (love Tubi) and have watched parts of it in the past. The tempo, vibe is interesting, unique really. It is intense, erratic but at the same token it is carefully telling a story in a narrative that gives it news report-like quality. By doing so this incorporates a greater fear factor, for if it is real news then it can happen to us too. Whereas some scary movies are too fantastical to believe it could be right in our own backyard. Indeed these gruesome killings in The Town That Dreaded Sundown has a frantic pace to it and the link above indicates this movie started filming "Monday, June 17, 2013 and ended in the early morning of June 20, 2013" This three(3) day period for filming a movie is very, very short, which explains the pacing of scenes in this movie, very fast! Yet I found the quick speed fit in with the overall tone of the movie. Tidbits: a TV show episode even takes that much time or more. Although I would not say this movie has the tv show quality, it has theatrical movie vibe. Ryan Murphy was also involved in this creation. Ryan Murphy is the genius behind American Horror Story(AHS), one of my favorite ever tv creations. Someone so used to the medium of television can struggle when taking on movie projects, even if the person(s) has done movies prior. Although I take issue with the most recent season of AHS, rest assured all prior seasons of AHS deliver as do all the seasons of American Horror Stories. NOTE: some of Murphy's other tv shows do not interest me and there is too much viperous stinging of incorporating unnecessary personal details from the real life of people the projects are based on. De Havilland and her sister hearsay, gossipy stuff, no thanks. Not for a legend like De Havilland. Anyways back to this movie THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, I am enjoying the acting. The actors all have some edge and depth to them and some have recognizable faces, again confirming that tv and movie stars can in fact bring much to the table when helping to carry projects as well as experiences in delivering high quality acting. Yet I like that scary movies often allow more unknown actors to break out and find opportunities to work. The scenes of the Phantom (the killer protagonist) are more gruesome, it is a slasher flick-yet I found the scenes also scary with the characters fighting, running and the backdrop to where these encounters took place. There are many varying directions the movie takes us in who could be the phantom killer yet it surprised me (which is a big plus in my book, DO NOT be predictable, DO NOT LET MY INSTINCT gut instinct figures things out as then I am ready to move on). The ending really surprised me. The ending also gave impression another movie might be coming: although finances, how much the first movie makes often determines this event. Overall a movie worth watching if one is into slasher, scary movies. Ignore the box off and financial results in trying to decide the quality of Movies. Financials are much different than the actual quality of a movie. Granted, making money allows us to make/get more movies. Acting, music, set designs, makeup, storyline are all good! Note: I do pass/no pass, pass get 10, don't pass then minimum. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/25 Full Review azeem h While it doesn't re-invent the slasher genre it is an entertaining enough film. Something to watch with your brain on neutral. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/28/24 Full Review Dawn B Enjoyed it. It felt that there weren't that many murders or that much blood. Yes, it did feel like a typical slasher movie, b.utt I loikes them too. Did read some of my book b.utt 11.10.24 7.3/0. D.B. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/11/24 Full Review SkyRo P After viewing "The Town That Dreaded Sundown," I had high hopes for a thrilling horror movie that would keep me on the edge of my seat. However, the film turned out to be a letdown, with a twist at the end being the only moment of intrigue. The rest of the movie felt drawn-out, absurd, and uninteresting. As the plot unfolded, it became increasingly clear that the film was leading to nowhere, and the gradual decline in quality left me feeling disengaged until the final twist involving the murderer. Despite some horror elements being teased throughout, they failed to deliver any significant impact, leaving the viewer with a sense of unfulfilled expectations. Additionally, the film relied heavily on sexual themes that felt unnecessary and out of place. Overall, "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" failed to live up to its potential as a captivating horror movie and instead ended up being a disappointing and unsatisfying watch. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/18/24 Full Review Jules N Un bon slasher bien gore et très froid dans l'exécution des meurtres. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/24 Full Review Alec B It's not the first horror sequel/remake to engage in meta commentary, but it's probably the only one where the original film is unremarkable and mostly forgotten. As a result, the killer's desire here to be remembered takes on a unique significance. Obviously it all falls apart by the end, but the movie is still an oddity worth checking out. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/05/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Director
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Producer
Jason Blum, Ryan Murphy
Screenwriter
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Distributor
Orion Pictures
Production Co
Blumhouse Productions, Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating
R (Language|Grisly Images|Brutal Violence|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 16, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 6, 2016
Runtime
1h 25m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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