Review - The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)

First, let me preface this by saying, I did not see the original movie, the one made in 1974.  However, this movie references that movie so much that I feel like I've seen it, without having ever watched it.

Here's the back story, according to the introductory narrative by Addison Timlin (the actress who plays Jami, the lead role):  Back in the 1940's, there were some murders in Texarkana, a town that straddles the border between Texas and Arkansas.  The killer stalked young couples who had wandered out at night hoping to get some privacy, as young couples are wont to do.  Come to think of it, I think that's the same as every killer in every horror movie ever made, certainly the friday the 13th movies, which, I guess are based on the original Texarkana killings and/or the original movie made back in 1974.  Now, I haven't actually fact-checked any of this, so I'm just going by what I can recall from the movie.  To sum up, the killer was never caught.

Flash forward to 2014, when this movie opens.  In Texarkana, they are screening The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1974) every Halloween.  A young couple watching the movie decides to leave the drive-in early, to find a nice place to park and get away from the crowd, as young people are wont to do.  While they are getting frisky, the girl sees a hooded man in the woods, watching them.  The man thinks it's just a peeping tom, but then the killer smashes their window with a gun before they can drive away.  Forcing the couple out of the car at gunpoint, the killer savagely stabs the man in the back, and then chases the girl through the woods.  Before she can get away, he catches her, and gives her a message,  He wants her to remind them, to make sure they remember...

I'm not quite sure what to make of this movie.  Between the references to the 1940s murders and the references to the 1974 movie, there's a lot of flashbacks and cuts out of the action.  There's no monsters and no nudity, so it's not one of my favorite kinds of horror movies, but I guess it got a little twisty at the end there, so it's kind of surprising?  Meh.  The acting is decent and the supporting cast is excellent.  You've seen most of these actors before.  There's Edward Herrmann as the preacher, Ed Lauter as one of the police officers, and Veronica Cartwright as Jami's (Addison Timlin's) Grandmother.  There's only a few dead bodies, and most of the kills mimic the ones from the 1974 movie.  This is on purpose, as the killer is trying to remind people of the 1940's murders.

An interesting curiosity is that Addison Timlin constantly reminds me of Jill Schoelen in this movie.  Jill Schoelen, if you recall, was a scream queen back in the 1980's who starred in the original Stepfather movie, as well as Cutting Class (one of Brad Pitt's first acting roles).  She's since retired from acting, but she and Addison Timlin have very similar facial bone structure, and with Addison's hair appearing (dyed?) dark brown in the movie, and having a cut similar to Jill's, she's practically Jill Schoelen's twin.  What does that have to do with anything, you ask?  I don't know.  Just thought it was interesting.

So, if you've seen The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1974), or you haven't, or you like watching movies that are sort of about movies that were kind of about murders, then this is the movie for you.  I think I just gave myself a headache typing out that sentence.  Or, if you like slasher flicks, then give this one a shot.  Not very bloody, not too many bodies, nothing particularly horrifying.  Perhaps like the original Friday the 13th, then?  The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) is available on Netflix, and the original 1974 version WAS available there, but I think they pulled it from the streaming service sometime last year.  Which, doesn't help you a damn bit, does it?

Another interesting side note, we have 3 friday the 13ths this year!  One next week, one in march, and one in november!  Sounds lucky!  heh

Bonus review, since I missed posting last week.  Edge of Tomorrow (2014) with Tom Cruise.  Yea, I'm definitely not a Tom Cruise fan, but I like Science fiction, and this sort of qualifies.  If you thought The Town That Dreaded Sundown had a lot of flashbacks and cut scenes, HOLY SHIT are you in for a surprise.  Let's sum up Edge of Tomorrow.  Tom Cruise stars as some non-combat army spin doctor in the midst of an alien invasion.  Although humanity is losing the war, Tom Cruise manages to spin it so millions of people sign up to die on the front lines.  I'm not sure why they decide to throw him into the thick of combat, but unfortunately for his character, Tom is tossed into the thick of it.  I guess they didn't have enough cannon fodder and Tom seemed like an easy target?  Probably.  In any case, somehow, Tom Cruise's character (and I really didn't care enough about him to recall the guy's name) manages to kill an 'Alpha' or a blue alien (they look like animated hairballs, honestly) and is somehow tripped back into time so that he relives each day, much like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Only instead of ending up in bed with Andie Mcdowell, Tom Cruise's goal to kill the evil alien overmind before he loses the ability to snap back into time when he dies.  Sounds easy enough, right?

Edge of Tomorrow, aside from sounding like the next James Bond 007 movie, has a LOT of flashbacks, or, flash-forwards, or whatever you want to call them.  There's a lot of the same scene over and over again, in other words.  Bill Pullman makes an appearance as an overzealous Master Sargeant, and another appearance, and another, in the same scene.  Also in this movie as General Brigham is Brendan Gleeson, who many of you monster movie fans will recall as the Sheriff in Lake Placid.  Emily Blunt stars as the heroine of the war.

As alien invasion movies go, this one wasn't that good.  There's a lot of scenes done over and over, especially the beach scene, and this cuts down on the actual scenes where they would normally go into the alien back story.  Instead, Tom Cruise uses his ability to snap back in time to try and seduce Emily Blunt.  Which, I guess I can't blame him overmuch?  But instead of getting lucky, he only manages to get her killed a lot.  Like I said, the aliens look more like animated hairballs than anything else, and the alien overmind looks like one of those Bloomin' Onions from the Outback restaurant.  So.  If hairballs and bloomin onions make you hungry (and why wouldn't they?), then don't watch this movie while you're on a diet.  Edge of Tomorrow is on HBO if you want to see it, but why would you?  I mean, it's Tom Cruise.  Mostly.  And no nudity.  So.  Blech.

That's all for this week, kiddies.  I've been shovelling so much snow I'm going to need arm replacements when I am done.  And.. I have more shovelling to do.  Til next weekend!