The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

It's slow, it's grindingly slow.  It doesn't know if it is drama, horror, or comedy.  Who's fault is it?  Well, only one person is to blame...Spark Plug!!!  Or director Charles B. Pierce if you prefer.  

There is something very unsettling about this even prior to Jason...

This flick is a truly bizarre thing to behold. It is based on the true story of the Phantom Killer of Texarkana.  The Phantom was never identified and Pierce wisely keeps this open ending.  It was a good move because despite the rest of the film the lack of closure succeeds in evoking a sense of dread. There are points where Pierce lets you know the killer is out and about walking among the townsfolk and probably is one of them.  I enjoy how unsettling this aspect is about the flick.

As for the film itself...it doesn't play too well as a straight up horror flick.  It has plenty of drama, comedy (unintentional or intentional--I'm not sure), and the docudrama of the voice over narrator.  The narration aspect of it is somewhat jolting but serves a purpose.  It shocks the viewer back out of the picture and reminds them that they are viewing a more or less historical document and are not actually submersed in Texarkana at the time of the killings.  I enjoy this device greatly and think if done well can still be used to great advantage.

The kills are fairly vanilla, except for one.  A couple are almost beaten to death, most of the others are shot and then there's the doozy. 

The doozy...it is just plain weird...

This thing is long, drawn out, hypersexualized and absolutely fucking bizarre.  If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about.  The Trombone of Death!  So our killer, who up until this point is just a run of the mill serial killer--you know the kind--no particular "thing" just out offing people without making things too fucked up; now proves himself to be an A-1 lunatic fucking nutball.  He ties a young woman to a tree.  She coaxes her beau to run for it--hard to do with a shot up leg--so he ends up being repeatedly shot in the back as he crawls away.  Well our boy the phantom has tied her to the tree.  She is facing it and pretty much hugging the tree.  He then takes her trombone and begins to play it.  He gets a pocket knife out and ties the knife to the instruments slide, and proceeds to play a few notes.  Each note driving the blade of the knife into her back as she arches her back and groans...where the hell did that come from?!  Needless to say this bit is worth the price of admission in and of itself.

All in all check it out if you can handle 70's style horror (or 70's style anything really). It's a slow burn that burns really frickin slow. But fun nonetheless. Despite everything there is something that draws me to Pierce's flicks. 

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