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The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014 film)

January 24, 2023

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 2014 American slasher film and serves as a metafictional sequel to the 1976 film of the same name. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon in his feature-length directorial debut, the film was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy. The film stars Addison Timlin, Travis Tope, Spencer Treat Clark, Veronica Cartwright and Gary Cole and was one of the last films of Ed Lauter and Edward Herrmann before their deaths in October 2013 and December 2014, respectively.[3][4][5]

The Town That Dreaded Sundown
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written byRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Based onThe Town That Dreaded Sundown
by Charles B. Pierce
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMichael Goi
Edited byJoe Leonard
Music byLudwig Göransson
Production
companies
Distributed byOrion Pictures
Release date
  • October 16, 2014 (2014-10-16)
Running time
86 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$120,459[2]

The project was initially planned as remake of the 1976 film of the same name, with Gomez-Rejon directing it from a screenplay written by Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum through its Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy. However, it was conceived as a sequel, with several elements and references from the original. Filming in Texarkana began Monday, June 17, 2013 and ended in the early morning of June 20, 2013.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown was theatrically released on October 16, 2014, by Orion Pictures. The film had grossed only $120,459 in its initial release and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, who praised its production values, visuals and performances, but criticized its screenplay, unoriginality, and character development. As of February 2019, the film has grossed over $100k through video sales.[citation needed]

Plot

On October 31, 2013, in the city of Texarkana, the local drive-in theater is hosting the Halloween annual showing of the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown, based on the true story of the Phantom Killer who murdered several people in Texarkana in 1946. Corey Holland and Jami Lerner leave to talk and kiss but The Phantom kills Corey, and tells Jami, "This is for Mary. Make them remember."

Two days before Thanksgiving, Kendra Collins-Thompson and her boyfriend, Daniel Torrens, are killed by the Phantom while having sex at a motel. The Phantom calls Jami with Corey's phone, telling her, "I'm going to do it again and again until you make them remember." She decides to tell her police escort, Deputy Foster. She is helped with her research into the killings by former classmate Nick Strain. Texas Ranger Lone Wolf Morales takes over the investigation. Jami receives an email from the Phantom and takes it to the police. Nick asks Jami to a vigil for the Phantom victims. There, a suicidal teenager shows up dressed as the Phantom and is killed, causing the townspeople to believe the murderer is actually dead. However, band members Johnny and Roy go to a junkyard to experiment sexually, where they are attacked by the real Phantom. The Phantom recreates the trombone weapon from the original film. Johnny is shot to death and Roy is stabbed.

Morales and Deputy Tillman visit Reverend Cartwright. They discovered that he sent Jami the email, but do not believe he is the Phantom. Jami learns that Charles B. Pierce's son is still alive and lives in Texarkana. On Christmas Eve, Tillman and his date are killed by the Phantom. Jami and Nick visit Charles Pierce Jr. and learn about Hank McCreedy, a sixth victim of the original Phantom whose story was forgotten. Pierce believes the new Phantom is McCreedy's grandson, because the family was angered that McCreedy's death was not remembered. McCreedy had a wife named Mary.

Lillian, Jami's grandmother, finds out that Jami was accepted into a college in California and decides to move there so Jami can go to school. Jami tells Nick she is leaving and they have sex. Nick is later killed by the Phantom. While leaving town, Jami pulls into a gas station. There, the Phantom starts firing from a window, killing Lillian and several others. Jami runs into the old Union train station and finds Nick's body. She is shot down by arrows and confronted by two Phantom Killers. One is Deputy Foster and the other is Corey, who faked his death. Foster is McCreedy's grandson. Corey tries to convince Jami they are the same: that Texarkana trapped them in roles they hated. He brags about how everyone will know what he did, and decides to kill her, but is killed by Foster who plans to kill Jami and blame the killings on her and Corey. Jami finds the gun and shoots Foster but his body is never found. Jami leaves Texarkana and moves on with her life. In the end, the Phantom's shadow is seen stalking Jami.

Cast

Production

When Jason Blum was asked in an interview why he wanted to remake the original film, he responded:

Ryan Murphy found the movie, brought it to me and said, "I wanna do it". I didn't find it. He brought it to me. I think he is an amazing, creative force, especially with horror. I think he thinks about horror in a really unique way. So, he pitched it to me and I really wanted to work with him. I didn't know the [original] movie. That's what got me interested in it. I have had a really good working relationship with him. And the whole point of why my business exists and why I'm such a fanatic about making movies inexpensively is that you get to do different stuff. We just wanted to try it. That's the fun thing. When you don't have a $20 million horror film, which is a typical horror movie studio budget, or a $180 million tent-pole budget, looming down at you, you can try new stuff. It may work or it may not work, but the fun is that we can try. It's a really weird movie to remake, and I really like doing weird things.[7]

Filming

"The museum is where their base of operations is, and then we're supplying the cars that are coming into the scenes where they shoot the movie. They want '60s- and '70s- era cars. As I understand the movie, it's going to be kind of like a flashback kind of thing."[8]
— Jeral Willard, Four States Auto Museum

Though the film is about Texarkana, most of the film was shot in Shreveport, Louisiana in mid-May 2013 for a six-week shoot.[8] Some of its locals were recruited as extras. Three of those days were filmed in Texarkana. Downtown State Line Avenue was decorated with out-of-season Christmas decorations on June 12.[9] Filming in Texarkana began Monday, June 17 and ended in the early morning of June 20. The crew then finished filming in Shreveport.

Release

The Town That Dreaded Sundown had its first screening at the 10th Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas on September 18–25, 2014, which director Gomez-Rejon attended,[10] and then later at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles, California on October 4, 2014.[11] Its international debut was at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14, 2014.[12] Both Deadline Hollywood and Bloody Disgusting indicated that the film would be released by Orion Pictures, a long-dormant subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in select theaters on October 16, 2014.[13][14][15] The film was then released digitally on Video on Demand through Blumhouse Productions' new BH Tilt, a new label which releases films via multi-platform.[16]

Reception

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 66% approval rating based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 6/10.[17] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 47 based on five reviews.

Variety found the film lacking and said "this tediously metatextual exercise conjures few inspired jolts of its own."[18] Chris Tilly of IGN said the film was "ultimately, not very good."[19] Bloody Disgusting praised the film's visuals but said "It’s unfortunate that the script can’t reach the same bar—particularly when it comes to the tired twist ending, which seems to exist simply because the filmmakers assumed audiences would expect it."[20]

Empire Online gave the film three stars and called it "Smart, fun, mid-list horror with Scream overtones."[21] Fangoria gave the film three out of four skulls and said, "the plot somewhat falls apart in the third act... But despite this disappointing final blow, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is still well worth a visit."[22]

Jonathan Romney of The Guardian gave the film three stars and called it "a southern-fried Scream" and said it "proves that a brazen lack of originality doesn’t preclude inventiveness and brio."[23] However, Benjamin Lee also writing for The Guardian gave it two stars and called it "cookie-cutter carnage."[24]

Home media

Image Entertainment acquired the U.S. home video distribution rights and released the film on DVD and Blu-ray exclusively at Best Buy on July 7, 2015.[25]

References

  1. ^ "THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  2. ^ "The Town Thatg Dreaded Sundown (2014)". The Numbers. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  3. ^ Ryan Turek (April 3, 2013). "Meta Version of The Town That Dreaded Sundown Finds Its Leading Lady". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  4. ^ "Addison Timlin Joins Ryan Murphy's The Town That Dreaded Sunlight Remake". CinemaBlend.com. April 3, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  5. ^ Mike Barnes (October 16, 2013). "Prolific Character Actor Ed Lauter Dies at 74". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  6. ^ Sims, Robert (October 16, 2014). "Interview: Colby Boothman-Shepard, "The Town That Dreaded Showdown"". Lights Camera Austin. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Jason Blum Talks THE PURGE and The Town That Dreaded Sundown Remake". Collider. June 6, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Brand, Aaron (June 18, 2013). "'Sundown' shoot starts". Texarkana Gazette. 137: 1.
  9. ^ "Christmas in June". Texarkana Gazette: 3A. June 13, 2013.
  10. ^ Borders, Meredith. "This Is It! The Final Wave Of Programming For FFX". FantasticFest.com. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  11. ^ "The Town That Dreaded Sundown at Beyond Fest". AmericanCinematheque.com. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  12. ^ "'Sundown' Premieres in London". Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  13. ^ "Blumhouse launches Multi-platform arm BH Tilt". September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  14. ^ "The Town That Dreaded Sundown and other releases". September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  15. ^ "First Look at The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  16. ^ "'Mockingbird,' 'Mercy' and 'The Town That Dreaded Sundown' This October". BloodyDisgusting.com. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  17. ^ "The Town That Dreaded Sundown Reception". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  18. ^ Lodge, Guy (October 16, 2017). "Film Review: 'The Town That Dreaded Sundown'". Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  19. ^ Tilly, Chris (October 1, 2014). "The Town That Dreaded Sundown Review". IGN. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  20. ^ Burkart, Gregory S. (October 9, 2014). "[Review] 'Town That Dreaded Sundown' Is a Mixed Bag". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  21. ^ Newman, Kim (March 25, 2015). "The Town That Dreaded Sundown Review". Empire Online. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  22. ^ McKendry, Rebekah (October 15, 2014). ""THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN" (Movie Review)". Fangoria. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  23. ^ Romney, Jonathan (April 19, 2015). "The Town That Dreaded Sundown review – a southern-fried Scream". The Guardian. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  24. ^ Lee, Benjamin (April 16, 2015). "The Town That Dreaded Sundown review – tricksy horror sequel". The Guardian. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  25. ^ "'The Town That Dreaded Sundown' on Blu-ray & DVD July 7 from Image Entertainment". Horror Society. June 16, 2015.

External links

January 24, 2023
town, that, dreaded, sundown, 2014, film, town, that, dreaded, sundown, 2014, american, slasher, film, serves, metafictional, sequel, 1976, film, same, name, directed, alfonso, gomez, rejon, feature, length, directorial, debut, film, written, roberto, aguirre,. The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 2014 American slasher film and serves as a metafictional sequel to the 1976 film of the same name Directed by Alfonso Gomez Rejon in his feature length directorial debut the film was written by Roberto Aguirre Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy The film stars Addison Timlin Travis Tope Spencer Treat Clark Veronica Cartwright and Gary Cole and was one of the last films of Ed Lauter and Edward Herrmann before their deaths in October 2013 and December 2014 respectively 3 4 5 The Town That Dreaded SundownTheatrical release posterDirected byAlfonso Gomez RejonWritten byRoberto Aguirre SacasaBased onThe Town That Dreaded Sundownby Charles B PierceProduced byJason Blum Ryan MurphyStarringAddison Timlin Travis Tope Spencer Treat Clark Ed Lauter Veronica Cartwright Gary Cole Anthony Anderson Joshua Leonard Edward HerrmannCinematographyMichael GoiEdited byJoe LeonardMusic byLudwig GoranssonProductioncompaniesBlumhouse Productions Ryan Murphy ProductionsDistributed byOrion PicturesRelease dateOctober 16 2014 2014 10 16 Running time86 minutes 1 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office 120 459 2 The project was initially planned as remake of the 1976 film of the same name with Gomez Rejon directing it from a screenplay written by Aguirre Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum through its Blumhouse Productions banner alongside American Horror Story co creator Ryan Murphy However it was conceived as a sequel with several elements and references from the original Filming in Texarkana began Monday June 17 2013 and ended in the early morning of June 20 2013 The Town That Dreaded Sundown was theatrically released on October 16 2014 by Orion Pictures The film had grossed only 120 459 in its initial release and received mixed to positive reviews from critics who praised its production values visuals and performances but criticized its screenplay unoriginality and character development As of February 2019 the film has grossed over 100k through video sales citation needed Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Filming 4 Release 5 Reception 5 1 Critical reception 6 Home media 7 References 8 External linksPlot EditOn October 31 2013 in the city of Texarkana the local drive in theater is hosting the Halloween annual showing of the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown based on the true story of the Phantom Killer who murdered several people in Texarkana in 1946 Corey Holland and Jami Lerner leave to talk and kiss but The Phantom kills Corey and tells Jami This is for Mary Make them remember Two days before Thanksgiving Kendra Collins Thompson and her boyfriend Daniel Torrens are killed by the Phantom while having sex at a motel The Phantom calls Jami with Corey s phone telling her I m going to do it again and again until you make them remember She decides to tell her police escort Deputy Foster She is helped with her research into the killings by former classmate Nick Strain Texas Ranger Lone Wolf Morales takes over the investigation Jami receives an email from the Phantom and takes it to the police Nick asks Jami to a vigil for the Phantom victims There a suicidal teenager shows up dressed as the Phantom and is killed causing the townspeople to believe the murderer is actually dead However band members Johnny and Roy go to a junkyard to experiment sexually where they are attacked by the real Phantom The Phantom recreates the trombone weapon from the original film Johnny is shot to death and Roy is stabbed Morales and Deputy Tillman visit Reverend Cartwright They discovered that he sent Jami the email but do not believe he is the Phantom Jami learns that Charles B Pierce s son is still alive and lives in Texarkana On Christmas Eve Tillman and his date are killed by the Phantom Jami and Nick visit Charles Pierce Jr and learn about Hank McCreedy a sixth victim of the original Phantom whose story was forgotten Pierce believes the new Phantom is McCreedy s grandson because the family was angered that McCreedy s death was not remembered McCreedy had a wife named Mary Lillian Jami s grandmother finds out that Jami was accepted into a college in California and decides to move there so Jami can go to school Jami tells Nick she is leaving and they have sex Nick is later killed by the Phantom While leaving town Jami pulls into a gas station There the Phantom starts firing from a window killing Lillian and several others Jami runs into the old Union train station and finds Nick s body She is shot down by arrows and confronted by two Phantom Killers One is Deputy Foster and the other is Corey who faked his death Foster is McCreedy s grandson Corey tries to convince Jami they are the same that Texarkana trapped them in roles they hated He brags about how everyone will know what he did and decides to kill her but is killed by Foster who plans to kill Jami and blame the killings on her and Corey Jami finds the gun and shoots Foster but his body is never found Jami leaves Texarkana and moves on with her life In the end the Phantom s shadow is seen stalking Jami Cast EditAddison Timlin as Jami Lerner Travis Tope as Nick Strain Veronica Cartwright as Lillian Gary Cole as Chief Deputy Tillman Joshua Leonard as Deputy Foster Edward Herrmann as Reverend Cartwright Anthony Anderson as Lone Wolf Morales Ed Lauter as Sheriff Underwood Arabella Field as Dr Kelly Denis O Hare as Charles Pierce Jr Spencer Treat Clark as Corey Holland Morganna Bridgers as Kendra Collins Wes Chatham as Danny Torrens Jaren Mitchell as Johnny Kurt Krause as Roy Lance E Nichols as Mayor Holdridge Lanee Landry as Ardele Colby Boothman as Paul Mason 6 Bill Stinchcomb as Mr Holland Danielle Harris as Townsperson Charles B Pierce Jr as Man In DinerProduction EditWhen Jason Blum was asked in an interview why he wanted to remake the original film he responded Ryan Murphy found the movie brought it to me and said I wanna do it I didn t find it He brought it to me I think he is an amazing creative force especially with horror I think he thinks about horror in a really unique way So he pitched it to me and I really wanted to work with him I didn t know the original movie That s what got me interested in it I have had a really good working relationship with him And the whole point of why my business exists and why I m such a fanatic about making movies inexpensively is that you get to do different stuff We just wanted to try it That s the fun thing When you don t have a 20 million horror film which is a typical horror movie studio budget or a 180 million tent pole budget looming down at you you can try new stuff It may work or it may not work but the fun is that we can try It s a really weird movie to remake and I really like doing weird things 7 Filming Edit The museum is where their base of operations is and then we re supplying the cars that are coming into the scenes where they shoot the movie They want 60s and 70s era cars As I understand the movie it s going to be kind of like a flashback kind of thing 8 Jeral Willard Four States Auto MuseumThough the film is about Texarkana most of the film was shot in Shreveport Louisiana in mid May 2013 for a six week shoot 8 Some of its locals were recruited as extras Three of those days were filmed in Texarkana Downtown State Line Avenue was decorated with out of season Christmas decorations on June 12 9 Filming in Texarkana began Monday June 17 and ended in the early morning of June 20 The crew then finished filming in Shreveport Release EditThe Town That Dreaded Sundown had its first screening at the 10th Fantastic Fest in Austin Texas on September 18 25 2014 which director Gomez Rejon attended 10 and then later at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles California on October 4 2014 11 Its international debut was at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14 2014 12 Both Deadline Hollywood and Bloody Disgusting indicated that the film would be released by Orion Pictures a long dormant subsidiary of Metro Goldwyn Mayer in select theaters on October 16 2014 13 14 15 The film was then released digitally on Video on Demand through Blumhouse Productions new BH Tilt a new label which releases films via multi platform 16 Reception EditCritical reception Edit On Rotten Tomatoes the film received a 66 approval rating based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 6 10 17 On Metacritic which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics the film received an average score of 47 based on five reviews Variety found the film lacking and said this tediously metatextual exercise conjures few inspired jolts of its own 18 Chris Tilly of IGN said the film was ultimately not very good 19 Bloody Disgusting praised the film s visuals but said It s unfortunate that the script can t reach the same bar particularly when it comes to the tired twist ending which seems to exist simply because the filmmakers assumed audiences would expect it 20 Empire Online gave the film three stars and called it Smart fun mid list horror with Scream overtones 21 Fangoria gave the film three out of four skulls and said the plot somewhat falls apart in the third act But despite this disappointing final blow The Town That Dreaded Sundown is still well worth a visit 22 Jonathan Romney of The Guardian gave the film three stars and called it a southern fried Scream and said it proves that a brazen lack of originality doesn t preclude inventiveness and brio 23 However Benjamin Lee also writing for The Guardian gave it two stars and called it cookie cutter carnage 24 Home media EditImage Entertainment acquired the U S home video distribution rights and released the film on DVD and Blu ray exclusively at Best Buy on July 7 2015 25 References Edit THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN 15 British Board of Film Classification March 13 2015 Retrieved March 13 2015 The Town Thatg Dreaded Sundown 2014 The Numbers Retrieved February 20 2019 Ryan Turek April 3 2013 Meta Version of The Town That Dreaded Sundown Finds Its Leading Lady Shock Till You Drop Retrieved November 13 2013 Addison Timlin Joins Ryan Murphy s The Town That Dreaded Sunlight Remake CinemaBlend com April 3 2013 Retrieved November 13 2013 Mike Barnes October 16 2013 Prolific Character Actor Ed Lauter Dies at 74 The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved March 30 2014 Sims Robert October 16 2014 Interview Colby Boothman Shepard The Town That Dreaded Showdown Lights Camera Austin Retrieved June 28 2015 Jason Blum Talks THE PURGE and The Town That Dreaded Sundown Remake Collider June 6 2013 Retrieved November 13 2013 a b Brand Aaron June 18 2013 Sundown shoot starts Texarkana Gazette 137 1 Christmas in June Texarkana Gazette 3A June 13 2013 Borders Meredith This Is It The Final Wave Of Programming For FFX FantasticFest com Retrieved September 10 2014 The Town That Dreaded Sundown at Beyond Fest AmericanCinematheque com Retrieved September 10 2014 Sundown Premieres in London Retrieved September 10 2014 Blumhouse launches Multi platform arm BH Tilt September 9 2014 Retrieved September 10 2014 The Town That Dreaded Sundown and other releases September 9 2014 Retrieved September 10 2014 First Look at The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014 Blu ray com Retrieved September 10 2014 Mockingbird Mercy and The Town That Dreaded Sundown This October BloodyDisgusting com September 9 2014 Retrieved September 10 2014 The Town That Dreaded Sundown Reception Rotten Tomatoes Flixster Retrieved May 5 2020 Lodge Guy October 16 2017 Film Review The Town That Dreaded Sundown Variety Retrieved October 16 2017 Tilly Chris October 1 2014 The Town That Dreaded Sundown Review IGN Retrieved October 16 2017 Burkart Gregory S October 9 2014 Review Town That Dreaded Sundown Is a Mixed Bag Bloody Disgusting Retrieved October 16 2017 Newman Kim March 25 2015 The Town That Dreaded Sundown Review Empire Online Retrieved October 16 2017 McKendry Rebekah October 15 2014 THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN Movie Review Fangoria Retrieved October 16 2017 Romney Jonathan April 19 2015 The Town That Dreaded Sundown review a southern fried Scream The Guardian Retrieved October 16 2017 Lee Benjamin April 16 2015 The Town That Dreaded Sundown review tricksy horror sequel The Guardian Retrieved October 16 2017 The Town That Dreaded Sundown on Blu ray amp DVD July 7 from Image Entertainment Horror Society June 16 2015 External links EditThe Town That Dreaded Sundown at IMDb The Town that Dreaded Sundown 2014 at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014 film amp oldid 1126374679, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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