THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN

US, 1977, 90 minutes, Colour.
Ben Johnson, Andre Prine, Dawn Wells, Charles B. Pierce.
Directed by Charles B. Pierce.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is based generally on actual events. There were murders in Texarkana, Arkansas in 1946, five killings which remain unsolved.

The film focuses on the terrorising of the town as well as the response of the police captain and his deputy to try to solve the case. Many of the scenes are rather graphic in their visual presentation.

Ben Johnson brings a quite authority to his role as the captain. Andrew Prine appeared in a lot of westerns, generally as a nervous or inexperienced second-in-charge.

The film was directed by Charles B. Pierce who appears as Patrolman Benson. Pierce made a number of small-budget films in the 1970s, often with outback American locations: The Winds of Autumn, Winterhawk. He also made Grayeagle and The Norsemen.

1. The purpose of the film? History, violence, America, the phantom still present in a typical American town? Its overall impact? of interest, horror style?

2. The fact that the film was based on a true story? What value does this give this re-creation of a particular time and place and fear?

3. How authentic was the presentation of the plot? The importance of the narration and its recurrence during the film? Objectivity, description? Names and dates? The ominous comment at the end?

4. The importance of colour, Panavision, the setting of 1946, the atmosphere in Texarkana? An authentic American atmosphere?

5. The atmosphere of the initial collage of the way of life in Texarkana in 1946? Comparisons with the present, years of memory? Young people of the time now in middle age or older?

6. The film leading the audience on in anticipation of horror, fear, disgust? The significance of the title?

7. The dramatics of the first attacked. the young couple, audience sympathies, reaction to the phantom and the ugliness of his violence, madness? Violence and sexuality?

8. The editing and fear? The continued impact of the other attacks throughout the film? The couple, the dance and its ending with prayer. the attack of Helen Reid in her home?

9. Ramsey and the local police and their attempts to cope? Ramsey's skill, style of investigation, the sequence where he almost caught the phantom? Desperation?

10. The build-up to the calling in of J.D. Morales? His reputation, the Texas rangers? His style, dealing with the police, the press? How expert a ranger? The fact that he did not succeed? The sequences of him in action and his skill?

11. The various people confessing to the crimes? The style of insane people who would sock such publicity and confess? the interviews, the phone calls, the man with the car chase? The work of the police, the patrols?

12. The effect of the comic sequences with the police dressed up as decoys? The comedy with Benson and his ineptness? The driving of the car and its crashes? The effect of these comic sequences punctuating the more serious plot?

13. Audience response to the phantom insofar as he was seen only in action, being chased? The attack at Mrs. Reid's home? Almost losing his freedom? Mrs. Reid and the violence, her struggling to her neighbour?

14. The build-up to the climax? The pursuit, his almost being caught?

15. The irony of the ending and the implication that the phantom was still present in Texarkana?

16. Themes of society, behaviour, permissiveness, madness? Fear and the repercussions? Law and order, justice? The paralysing effect of fear on a town and Its way of life? Texarkana as a symbol of modern America?