In Texarkana, a Halloween screening of the 1976 film “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” ends in a hooded killer attacking a young couple and killing the male (Spencer Treat Clark). The girl (played by Addison Timlin) decides to take it upon herself to uncover the identity of the killer. Did I mention that in this film’s plot, the original 1976 “Town” was based on true events that happened to Texarkana years before? So, is the killer the same person from long ago, or someone inspired to kill in the name/memory of the original killer? Gary Cole, Joshua Leonard, and Ed Lauter play local lawmen, Anthony Anderson is a Texas Ranger (!), Veronica Cartwright plays Timlin’s concerned grandmother, and Edward Herrmann is the useless town preacher.
Whether you consider it a sequel, remake, or some kind of weird meta-movie blend of both, this 2014 film from director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is certainly at least inspired by the 1976 cult thriller. It starts out intriguingly, with lots of interesting stuff going on. Early on, one feels like we are watching something old-school, and not just because it has been distributed by Orion Pictures, who in addition to still being around, have the same damn ident they’ve had all along. Ah, the memories. The opening narration is a total “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” rip-off, but kinda cool nonetheless. It’s a good-looking film that despite being set in modern times, for some reason its look kept reminding me of 70s and early 80s horror, aside from some very modern editing. It’s an extremely good-looking film. It’s as much of a grindhouse vibe as a modern film can probably conjure up, which admittedly isn’t all that grindhouse, really, but at least they’re trying.
I also kinda dug the film’s rather meta-movie vibe. It name drops the original outright, and positions itself as taking place in a world where the original film was indeed just a film, but based on a true story that happened in the town that this new one is set. Add to that the fact that the original 1976 film itself was said to be based on a true story, and you’ve got some seriously deep meta-stuff going on here. And yet, at its core it’s a classic ‘Menace comes back to the town where it all began, to start a new reign of terror…or is it someone else?’ plot, just with a meta-movie twist. Kinda like “Scream 4”, but without the suckage. Meanwhile, lead actress Addison Timlin (who caught my eye in “Stand Up Guys”) had the look and voice of Jill Schoelen from “The Stepfather” and “Phantom of the Opera”, giving me even more retro vibes.
Early on the film also offers up a nice, quiet sense of unease. That, I’m afraid is just about where the fun ends, though. After 32 minutes it becomes clear that the film has come to pretty much a dead stop due to a lack of plot, despite being top-heavy. Once the basics are in place, there’s actually not all that much to it. Meanwhile, Timlin’s resemblance to Schoelen proves superficial, as she hasn’t got the charisma, and is rather sleepy. There’s lots of familiar faces in the film (including Denis O’Hare), but none of them play characters with any depth whatsoever. Ed Lauter, Anthony Anderson (who ate the rest of him?), and Gary Cole all essentially serve the same function, really, as various lawmen and Anderson’s the only one who really turned up with his working boots. Cole in particular gives the barest of minimum effort to his part. The late Edward Herrmann is the only one to stand out, purely because his character is hilarious. Every time something goes wrong in the film, his character just so happens to be on hand to lead everyone in prayer. I’m pretty sure the humour is intentional. I hope so.
The film’s not nearly as gory as I was expecting. Of course, not every horror film requires violence, but a lot of what happens in this film is either cut short of seeing anything, or the violence happens off-screen and we only see the gory aftermath. Some it is, however, rather stylishly done and there’s certainly enough blood to let you know that it’s not a TV movie at least.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Full marks for trying something beyond a straight remake or sequel, but this is one of those beautiful-looking films with not much else to recommend it. Yes, there’s some clever meta-movie aspects to it, but that’s all conceptual. It’s too slow, low-key and uneventful. A disappointment.
