The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) Review

"God, look at this place.  It's The Town That Dreaded Sundown." - Tatum

"I saw that movie, it's about a killer in Texas, huh?" - Dewey

Scream (1996)

Funny that this bit of dialogue from Scream, one of the most often cited examples of meta horror, probably brought the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown back into the public consciousness for a lot of people and now the 2014 remake/reboot/spin-off/"meta-sequel" of the original Town owes as much of its plot to Scream as it does its own source material.  Indeed, there a parts of this movie that almost feel ripped straight out of Craven's classic (and its sequels) but that isn't really a bad thing in my opinion.  I, personally, love movies that acknowledge that other movies exist.  Where the Scream series went with Stab, a fictional parody of their own film, Town goes the Human Centipede 2 route and features its own original film in the remake.  This leads to a lot of interesting plot elements such as how the town featured in the original film reacted to the film being made and as a possible motive for the new killings.

Despite all of its meta elements the film is at heart a brutal throw back to the early days of slashers, where wondering who was doing the killing was as important as the kills themselves.  The tone of the film is bleak and somber, with basically no room for any type of comedic relief, but that doesn't mean that it's not a blast to watch.  Now, despite having owned the once sought after VHS of the original Town for years I've never actually watched it so I can't comment on how much the new film borrows plot wise from the original.  It does make me want to go watch the original then re-watch the remake so if nothing else that is a sign of the quality of the new film. The original was loosely based on real life killings and the remake is based on fictionalized killings happening in the same town that are presented as if they really happened so you can get an idea of how many levels this is operating on.

The film is currently streaming on Netflix and I would recommend any slasher fans to give it a shot if they are looking for a serious take on the genre.  It was produced by Blumhouse Productions, who are famous for their Paranormal Activity and Insidious franchises, so I don't understand why this didn't get at least a modest theatrical release aside from playing some festivals but instead we are soon going to be getting a SIXTH Paranormal Activity movie in the theater.  Oh well.  At least it exists and we get to check it out.  With quality modern slashers being few and far between, this one comes as a breath of fresh air, hopefully you enjoy it like I did.