The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Play trailer

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

R

Released Dec 24, 1976

1h 30m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

42%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

40%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A hooded madman stalks the lovers' lanes of Texarkana in this fact-based account of a 1946 killing spree.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Vincent Canby

New York Times

A couple of professional actors, Ben Johnson and Andrew Prine, head the cast, but the film looks nonprofessional in evey other respect.

May 9, 2005

Full Review

Ruth Batchelor

Los Angeles Free Press

We are told from the beginning that this is a true story. So I want to give a true opinion: it stinks.

Oct 25, 2019

Full Review

Jean Hoelscher

Gannett News Service

The Town That Dreaded Sundown achieves good excitement much of the time, but it could have been a lot stronger with better dramatic involvement.

Jul 9, 2019

Full Review

TV Guide Staff

TV Guide

Despite the intriguing premise, Pierce is a stupifyingly unimaginative director, and the film is incredibly dull.

Rated: 1/5

Sep 26, 2018

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

A spooky dramatization of actual events, but in the end it feels like a docudrama more than a horror film.

Dec 2, 2013

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Uses simple period detail and underpopulated settings to convey an anti-Mayberry notion of the South as a place haunted by unsolved, unavenged murder -- an idea that ties this fact-based tale to the genuine horror of the region's civil rights murders.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 12, 2013

Full Review

Read all reviews

Alec B

The concept has a lot of promise. Even setting aside the horror, there's so much to explore in how communities react to danger. Unfortunately all you get are sub par genre thrills.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/05/24

Full Review

KerryWhite's S

7/10. 70/100. | Okay I did NOT expect it to be that funny 😆

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/12/23

Full Review

Valerii Ege D

I wanted to watch this movie so bad. But I am a bit disappointed. Killer sequences are what I was expecting, like Boston Strangler, but other parts, big no. Now I need to watch the 2014 version.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/22/23

Full Review

farah r

Despite claiming to be based on a true story, the film is not sophisticated and doesn't take its source material seriously. The Town That Dreaded Sundown is stuck between being a bad horror movie and a boring thriller. The events unfold at a painstakingly slow pace and it amounts to nothing as the ending was mighty disappointing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

justin t

This didn't really do anything for me. I could see how people would be scared by the film but I think that it was just lacking something. It was made before graphic violence was popular in the eighties in death scenes and the suspense was unimpressive. Basically don't really bother. It was a good film but many better films have come since.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Director Charles B. Pierce fumbles with the material. Worth watching for as a curiosity piece.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Charles B. Pierce

Director

Ben Johnson

Captain J.D. Morales

Andrew Prine

Deputy Norman Ramsey

Dawn Wells

Helen Reed

Jimmy Clem

Sgt. Mal Griffin

Charles B. Pierce

Patrolman A.C. Benson

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Dillinger

93%

75%

Dillinger

Watchlist

Boxcar Bertha

54%

33%

Boxcar Bertha

Watchlist

Foxy Brown

61%

66%

Foxy Brown

Watchlist

The Big Sleep

57%

28%

The Big Sleep

Watchlist

Bloody Mama

13%

41%

Bloody Mama

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A hooded madman stalks the lovers' lanes of Texarkana in this fact-based account of a 1946 killing spree.

Director: Charles B. Pierce
Producer: Charles B. Pierce
Screenwriter: Earl E. Smith
Distributor: American International Pictures
Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP)
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 24, 1976, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 17, 2014
Runtime: 1h 30m

Most Popular at Home Now