The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) User Reviews (120)

An interesting REQUEL!!

[sanjidparvez · 7/10 · 23 October 2014]

The original TTTDS was one of the earliest slasher films in the genre that even came before (in 1976) popular franchises like Halloween & Friday the 13th and I've always been a fan of that flick for its humor, suspense & docu-drama like narration style & last but not the least the haunting ending. So when I first heard about there will be a new TTTDS, I thought it'd be another pointless, some cash-in effort but last night after watching this new take on T3DS, I'd like to admit...I was pleasantly surprised!!

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (the most frequent director of American Horror Story), this new film is a strange version to categorize as a remake, reboot or a sequel; actually it's neither a straightforward remake or sequel...I'm not sure but I think REQUEL (a sequel-ish remake!) can be a more appropriate term for it. After more than half a century of the actual events of The Moonlight Murders that resulted the very making of 1976 original film, this new story is set on present day at the same town, Texarkana that once again begins to plagued by "The Phantom" murders. Interestingly, the 1976 original film is also very much alive in this movie as a film that we know in our 'reality', as in the film the town now maintains a tradition in every Halloween to show a drive in screening of the original film. So, as the film progress we see a fine blend between this version & the original film where some scenes from the original brought back through a kind of flashback style while also creating some copycat murder sequence in this new one. I liked this approach of providing homage to the original; bring it to an entirely new generation. This new & refreshing kind of take & treatment to this already known & filmed story is the most appreciating part of this version. And overall the film is beautifully shot, liked the camera works, the character development was fine for a slasher flick, but still as a slasher it's not above the clichés as well as it comes with a routine ending & weak motive for the killer which I couldn't find much point to it. And lastly there's another strange part of it and that's the Town itself! It looks like the town hasn't really age after all this years!! May be for the homage issue but though the film is set on late 2013, it still got the 70s vibe almost all over it.

Anyway, there's not much masked killer-slasher flick comes out this days with good or decent budget & film making like this one and still despite some clichés & the ending, as a slasher flick it's pretty good one, IMO.

Good idea with some clichés

[LinkGoku · 7/10 · 18 October 2014]

Some 60+ years since a serial killer left the town of Texaracana in fear the killer seems to be back for more, but one girl will stop at nothing to uncover his identity.

This film is really intelligently shot, it mixes in several scenes from the original film while also creating some copycat scenes with different characters, I really enjoyed it. Good acting all around.

That being said this lost a lot of likability with its death scenes, there are several characters with less then five minutes of screen time, yet they leave us thanking the killer for offing them. you'll notice the mpaa rating says it has strong sexual content, I'm not one to really complain about unneeded sex and nudity that being said the sex scenes were really used to degrade the characters.

Overall this was a nice slasher film, fans of the sub-genre will enjoy it. Not a slasher fan? you should probably pass on it.

THIS IS FOR MARY

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 29 November 2018]

The original was a horror film favorite when it first came in the 70's out for two reasons. One was the infamous sliding trombone scene where he kills a girl with her own instrument. This film shows pieces of that scene and then goes on to do a bad recreation/tribute. The second aspect that we loved was the fact Dawn Wells (sweet Mary Ann from "Gilligan's Island") was in a horror film, a woman we had all grown up loving as the girl next door. She was the Marsha Brady of the previous generation. Addison Timlin is not my Dawn Wells.

The film opens with two prospective victims and one suspect as a couple goes out parking. Soon the boy is dead and Jami (Addison Timlin) is left alive with instructions to remind everyone about "Mary." Jami conducts her own investigation as the body counts rises.

I was fairly bored with the copycat killer/ tribute film. The characters lacked decent development and personality. The dialogue was idiotic as when one sheriff begs a room full of people, "Call me Lone Wolf. I deserve it." And we know that how?

Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity (Morganna May of "The Conjuring")

Self-referential swing and miss

[chaos-rampant · 21 April 2015]

Two things they attempted here, one is the usual slasher where a skulking presence moves about in the small town after dark, haunting the whole of space. It offers up the blood sacrifice the genre demands, the Texan locations are nice, a sparse setting for the knife to slash.

But they also had the ambition to not just redo the same horror as every other thing on the shelf but to layer that stage where horror unfolds so that we get the mechanisms that give rise to it. This is a sequel of sorts to the 70s film by the same name that was about the real Texarkana murders that shook the place in the 40s.

So this becomes layered here as events unfolding in a place where gruesome reality of that day is relived each year through fiction, re-entered, thus neutered, through fiction; the original film playing on a drive-in on Halloween night as this one begins. The events aim to relive the original murders so that forgetful spectators will remember again the real impact, this at the behest of a new murderous narrator who fastidiously restages the real thing around town.

The heroine is chosen by him - as the narrative demands - to be the first victim who survives to tell the story, herself an aspiring journalist looking to document truth. So she finds out that it's all happening because a part of the original narrative was omitted in the telling, not given its place in the fiction.

So this is more ambitious than its ilk. One obvious source is Scream. A less obvious is Citizen Kane (don't jeer). The camera tries to swoop into rooms like Welles had it do, there's Kanesque deep focus, even that a journalist is looking to piece together truth from narration we might see as not wholly accidental.

It's not enough to understand Welles as technique he mastered or topics he illustrated though. You must now what for. The filmmaker doesn't so we get obtrusive technique, structure without narrative depth, views without import, in the end it's all strung together in a film schoolish way, and this goes back and even ruins the slasher and sense of place.

It ends with one of the most inane twists.

Different, but mediocre, with the crappy ending that plagues so many horror flicks

[keelhaul-80856 · 5/10 · 12 February 2019]

This film is far from the worst horror entry I've seen, and it is one of the more unique films in recent years. It has some twists and turns, and the killer is genuinely scary in the vein of Son of Sam or the Zodiac.

Of course, they threw in some gay dudes for some odd reason, that get killed in a silly way, and some other usual lovers. The couple at the beginning was just plain stupid, though, as they spot a man with a sack on his head staring at them menacingly from the bushes, and the boy in the car says, "Just some peeping Tom; don't worry." -- Yeah, sure. No worries. There is just some maniac weirdo staring at me while I get it on in a car, in the middle of nowhere at night, wearing a mask. Sure, happens to me all the time. They usually just want to take some photos and share a beer with you after you bone your date. What an idiot!!! We were laughing about that one for quite a while.

Another issue, which is cliche in horror movies, is the lack of people around in EVERY killing. Like, I get it-- the killer stalks and waits for perfect moments and victims, but come on!!!! Something in real life always goes wrong, and random people show up in all sorts of places and in ways you couldn't plan for. In this film, the killer seems to roam the streets, apartment buildings, gas stations, and fields, all with impunity at night-- even though everyone, including Texas Rangers, are looking for them to kill again. A woman leaps from a hotel or apartment building and gets in a car, only to have the killer follow her down there and stab her all over the car. She couldn't lay on the horn or scream? No one heard all the breaking glass and fighting and yelling going on in a big building in town? No one ever sees a big dunce with a potato sack on his head wielding weapons? At least he used a silencer for some kills, but it was very convenient that no one ever seemed to be out or aware of anything at night, in a small town where people keep getting murdered. In that region, I would expect everyone to be armed, dogs on alert, alarms, patrols at night, traps to be set,-- something...lol

Oh, and Anthony Anderson was miscast as the lead Ranger detective in this. He did ok with the part, but I felt it was distracting and odd, as I so used to seeing him in raunchy comedies and sitcom stuff, and he didn't really seem like the type to be a Texas Ranger. Danny Glover or Tommy Lee Jones, yeah. Anthony Anderson? Uhh, kind of bizarre lol

Everything else was pretty good, acting is good, and it has some different stuff that you haven't seen in every slasher movie, but like so many others in the genre, this one just couldn't produce a finishing finale for all the hype. The ending really made no damn sense at all. Two guys in on the killing? One is a cop? The other is a boy that was clearly shot by a Marine at a public vigil, in front of 100 people. How the hell did one cop get to file the reports, forego the autopsy, forge death certificate paperwork, and fake a burial, etc.????

There were way too many people on the scene, and the guy was a high school or college student that everyone knew. He didn't have anyone check on him or his funeral? The police didn't investigate the shooting and weapon used, and do any further research on what happened? Apparently, they just let one cop check a gunshot victim for vital signs, and then the cop buries the kid in a swamp, alone, with no more questions asked. Unless I missed something, that is the idea behind the final twist at the end. The ending is so bad, it nearly ruins an otherwise decent slasher mystery movie.

Phantom Killer strikes again.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 24 November 2014]

The original true crime slasher flick "Town That Dreaded Sundown"(1976) directed by Charles B.Pierce was based on true story of a mysterious serial killer called the Phantom Killer,who during spring of 1946 killed five people and wounded three in a small border town of Texarkana.The perpetrator of these heinous crimes was never caught.The new "Town That Dreaded Sundown" remake plays more like "Scream" influenced modern teen slasher flick with plenty of references to the original movie and the Phantom Killer unsolved case.Addison Timlin plays teenage girl who after seeing her would-be boyfriend brutally murdered by masked maniac decides to find who really the Phantom Killer AD 2014 is.The movie-within-a-movie premise is certainly well-played and there are some gruesomely bloody kill scenes.Frozen in time Texarkana is also a nice touch.Unfortunately the final reveal of the killer is disappinting.7 trombone deaths out of 10.

Needed a bit more love in the editing room

[jtindahouse · 4/10 · 14 June 2015]

A remake of a film that acknowledges the original's existence (and even implies it what an insensitive film to make) - now there's an interesting idea. Or at least a bold idea. It's not the first film to have done it, I know 'The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)' in 2011 played around with the same concept and I'm certain it would have been done before that. For some reason though it just leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It's like a different form of breaking the fourth wall. If you acknowledge the existence of film inside a film that's fine, it obviously happens all the time. But to directly acknowledge the series of films you are currently making just cheapens the whole experience and makes me wonder why I should care. To be fair though the film itself didn't really make me care anyway.

The whole thing is a bit of a mess. The victims are stupid, the cops are possibly even dumber and the kills feel rushed and never go on long enough to build any real suspense. Numerous times we are introduced to characters only moments before their imminent death. There are two flaws with this, one being that we can be certain that they are going to be victims because suddenly out of nowhere they have been awkwardly brought into the film like lambs to the slaughter, and secondly because we couldn't care less for the characters. We have no connection with them. Similar films like 'Scream' at least put some time and effort into the one scene their victim may have in an attempt to make us feel compassion for the character. That one scene can be enough if done right, but it certainly wasn't here.

The 'whodunnit' side of things is done well enough, I certainly didn't pick it. That's really about all this has going for it though. They really kept the runtime short at 86 minutes. I feel even another five minutes could have done the world of good just to extend some of the kill scenes and build characters a fraction more. It's certainly not unwatchable, but in a genre that has been quite stale for a while now is this adding anything new? I wouldn't have thought so.

More than decent slasher.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 13 October 2021]

I never expect too much from a slasher as it's not the most succesful genre but in this case it was a pleasant surprise. I didn't see the original movie from 1976 so I can't compare both of them but this version was certainly good enough to keep me entertained. The acting wasn't bad at all at that from the whole cast. There was a fair amount of decent slashing scenes, all done very professionaly and the mystery keeps you guessing till the end. A good movie for this genre.

Not too shaby!

[Patient444 · 6/10 · 20 October 2014]

Well they sure managed to keep that old image from back then, thus giving this movie a more realistic look, helping the viewer connect easily with the story. I for one got to say that I enjoyed it!

Am surprised to see a hand bunch of good actors gathered here, just check out the list, you'll see what I'm talking about, so you can expect good acting. They kept a very realistic portrait of the town, the people, the church, pretty much everything looks old, older than everything else because it is a tired town, one that has been through a lot of terror already and it barely healed properly. The story moves slow, but the killings go on and on, no gore, a little nudity, still powerful images come with every kill. Those looked indeed like authentic psychopath murders with psychopath reason behind them.

I think I said enough, I don't wanna tip you off on anything so I'll just recommend you to try it. It's a good homage of the classic cinema. I haven't seen the original, I hear it is also quite brutal, probably I'll try that one too, soon enough I hope. So without comparing them, my opinion is that The Town That Dreaded Sundown stands tall for a horror/slasher remake.

Cheers!

Unoriginal, Boring, And A Complete Waste Of Time

[dfa120374 · 3/10 · 17 July 2015]

The first word out of my mouth to my wife after watching this film was "lame" as that is exactly what this film is, not to mention boring, unoriginal, devoid of atmosphere, believability (even for a slasher film), and - in part - cheesy. Some of the dialogue was pretty cringeworthy as well (the gay scene and the "call me Lone Wolf" speech just to name two) so add that that into the mix with the other descriptions and you have yourself a lame film. Exactly what I said it was.

Most movies that I've seen - even some of the bad ones - have usually started out OK or decently enough and have obviously either gotten better or worse as they have went on. The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a film that is in the latter section - it started off OK but it got worse as it went on, with boring & unoriginal being the main reasons why. The story is just devoid of any real suspense or atmosphere as well, but it IS full of cliché's and even has very obvious similarities to another (MUCH better) film, especially the ending.

Speaking of which....the "twist" at the end would have been more believable if it was thought out much better (and, of course, if it were not copied). I mean it was OK, but when you consider what happens earlier in the film, and you actually use a bit of brain power, then you'll find that it was a totally implausible, even for a crappy movie such as this.

The whole look of the film was off for me as well. I mean it was made (and set) in 2014, but it looked as if it was set in the 70s...the older style of cars, the fashion, the retro look, etc...so whether that was an homage to the 1976 film or not I don't know, but it just didn't feel right at all.

This film is just a bit of a mess really, so If you enjoy a good slasher movie, then do yourself a favour...avoid this one as it will be 1 hour 20 minutes of your life you won't get back.

Slasher With a Difference

[Bribaba · 8/10 · 4 May 2015]

Post-modern take on the 1976 film of the same title, which was based on a series of murders that occurred in Texarkana on the Texas/Arkansas border a few decades earlier. The first film is frequently referenced but setting the story aside, the two have little in common. The original could sit comfortably in the video nasty genre, while the 'remake' is a stylistic tour-De-force with sound and photography that give off an art film vibe. The acting is solid in part thanks to veteran character actors Ed Lauter Gary Cole (the arms expert in The Good Wife). Although using a few genre tropes, this is not your average slasher flick. It's a scary movie but not a Scary Movie.

Better than I expected.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 11 February 2016]

I had assumed that The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014 was simply a remake of the 1976 slasher of the same name; this, I am glad to say, is not the case—it's a bit cleverer than that.

The film is set in the small town of Texarkana, where a masked psycho known as The Phantom committed a series of vicious murders 65 years earlier—it is these killings that provided the inspiration for the original movie, which—in this film—is now a cult favourite amongst the town's teenagers. It is during a screening of the film that young couple Jami (Addison Timlin) and Corey are attacked by someone dressed as the Phantom. Corey (Spencer Treat Clark) is repeatedly stabbed in the back, but Jami manages to escape to tell the tale.

Over the next few days, The Phantom claims several more victims; meanwhile, Jami investigates the history of the original murders (with help from archivist Nick, played by Travis Tope) in the hope of shining some light on the identity of the current killer.

A little bit meta, this plot is intriguing enough to help distinguish it from all of the other remakes/re-imaginings/sequels that have plagued the horror genre in recent years, but the film also delivers the basics—scares, gore and nudity—making it a fun way to spend an hour and a half. The scares are sparing, but well executed; the death scenes are sufficiently nasty, with some nice and bloody effects, including the surprisingly graphic sight of a major character cut into several pieces; unfortunately, despite having a sex scene, star Timlin fails to flash the goods, leaving it to a blonde bimbo to do the honours during a motel romp.

The final act, which relies on a very improbable twist, is something of a disappointment given all that has gone before, but overall I had a good time with this film. Time to revisit the original, methinks

Why did I sit through this?

[stsorrell · 1/10 · 28 July 2018]

I remember the movie from 1976 and had no idea there was a 2014 movie until I saw it on Amazon Prime. Having found nothing else interesting to watch, I unfortunately began to watch. BIG mistake.

This one was very predictable. You always knew when the killer was going to strike...down to the second. Hardly any suspense. But even in a bad movie, I expect things to be at least somewhat believable. For a town that had suffered multiple murders at night, why, in the last few minutes when Jami and her grandmother are leaving town, is there no police presence on the streets? Nowhere. Come on. That's some BS. And who goes on a trip from Texas to California and leaves at night? That's quite unusual....you leave first thing in the morning, which coincidentally is the SAFEST time of the day in Texarkana. For a town that "dreaded sundown" you sure couldn't tell it...they were out and about all the time after dark (except for the police, of course).

The sex scene seemed to be thrown in just for the hell of it.....sort of out of place even for a slasher film, which I guess is what this one was?

I was so surprised that five established actors actually participated in this POS. Now I wish I had that hour and a half back. Pass on this one, folks.

Wish it was better

[Red_Identity · 18 October 2014]

There are some scenes here that are truly awesome and really entertaining. Despite the clichés, some of the death kills and chases are well done and pretty inventive (although having not seen the original, not sure how inventive after all). The acting is decent, and it really feels like an old-school slasher, for obvious reasons. The problem is that it tries to get into the backstory a little too much, ultimately deflating so much of its momentum. Its first act is definitely its strongest, what a shame it couldn't sustain itself. For horror fans, it's somewhat decent and maybe many will love it. But it does show some talent from Gomez-Rejon, who has proved to be the best director of American Horror Story

Great start, then like everything else....

[heratyplant · 5/10 · 17 November 2019]

Really great, interesting beginning with a very engaging visual style & excellent production values, but things start to get confusing. I have no problem with the time jump story telling style, it's quite now & you just have to keep your brain engaged to keep up, but this one had me scratching my head. There are quite clear on screen time stamps stating that it's 2013, but there are classic cars from the 60's & 70's all over the place, many more than is normal, with many people dressed in similar period clothes & hairstyles. Fine I thought, we've jumped back in time, but it's the same female lead character back then, that's interesting, but no, there was no time jump & to cut it short, there is never any explanation of this (that I could see) & it is indeed present day. You may think this not a big deal & i love well done period pieces, but this just stopped me suspending my disbelief & getting into the film as I couldn't work out what I was seeing - in a bad way! This ruined the film for me & I just skipped to the just OK ending; which if you're hoping for a supernatural twist, you will be disappointed. It was only after watching the film, I came across the original film of the same name from 1976. This must somehow explain this period visual style, but not only will many viewers not know this, but it still doesn't explain this retro look to the film. If you're a die hard slasher buff, I do recommend this movie, it's pretty gory, I only suggest it to anyone else if you've nothing better to watch.

nice slasher

[MikesIDhasbeentaken · 6/10 · 22 May 2015]

anyone into masked killers killing people and revealing their identity at the very end, you can't go too wrong here.

Although the killer uses a gun a bit too much, and there's no decent death scenes in here, there's enough for slasher fans to give this a watch, I liked the way that pretty much as soon as the killer is revealed, unlike most other films where they talk or chase each other for another half an hour, this one just concludes pretty sharpish.

has a bit of a surprise at the end... makes no sense, but might be a pleasant surprise for people who spend the whole film guessing who the killer is.

it's no scream, but if you like one you'll like the other

Hmmmm, not sure what all the good reviews are about

[helencatherinetaylor · 3/10 · 16 August 2019]

If you loved the original then I guess this is for you on some weird nostalgic level. Personally for me the whole thing felt like some terrible TV movie. The trombone scene was ridiculous. I don't think this is going to win any new fans and I feel like the people that gave this a high score are trying a little bit too hard. Heed my words or waste 90 minutes of your life finding out for yourself. You've been warned

One of a better horror films worth checking out this year // instagram: moviesmaniax

[moviesmaniax · 7/10 · 19 February 2015]

From one of the directors of American Horror Story, expect some uniquely and beautifully shot that makes this film rise above other recent slasher films. While the twist climax may seems pretty silly with a decent storyline but thanks to the cinematography, the directing, and the music that all comes together really well making it an interesting slasher flick to sit through. The GORES here are quite impressive, brutally bloody, and intensely done enough to gleefully satisfy horror fans. The killer here is also pretty creepy with some jumpy cheap SCARES here and there. Overall, this is a meta-sequel to the original film that's beautifully shot with smart concept and enough bloody kills making it one of a better horror films that's worth checking out this year >>B<<

Here comes the killer, guys...

[Phoeniloculus · 5/10 · 22 November 2018]

I can't really say I hate this film, but it honestly wasn't good. It's more of a polished crapfest with mediocre moments.

What's odd is I found myself thinking of jokes while watching the whole thing; along with criticizing some of the editing. The majority of The Town That Dreaded Crippling Deppression was full of several predictable moments and cliches.

We're supposed to believe that it takes place in 2014, yet there's 70's style of cars and clothing, along with phones that look like they're from the mid 2000's. The killer talking was what made me laugh at the beginning. If I'm correct, wasn't the killer from the original silent the whole time?

Some characters were bland while a few were okay. It wasn't the worst acting, but could've been much better. Also (again with the time setting) are drive-ins still a thing?

Now the so called "twist" at the ending was so stupid and impossible, especially what is shown at the beginning. The dude was stabbed several times like a hooker in an alleyway and is one of the two killers? That was another dumb twist. It's two people...

I only watched it once and plan on keeping it that way. Like I said, it's not the worst. I'd say give it a watch if you're really bored... I mean really (enter explicit word) bored.

Generic slasher

[851222 · 6/10 · 10 May 2015]

Greetings from Lithuania.

"The Town That Dreaded Sundown" (2014) is kinda generic horror slasher flick. There isn't anything special, although plot kinda tries to make it a bit original and insert some movie within a movie story. Acting is also generic, nothing special. The only thing in this movie good was cinematography - there are some truly good shoots, and overall cinematography is very good, much better that the material itself.

Overall, "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" is OK flick for some one viewing if you have seen better genre's flicks and you have absolutely nothing else to do. It's bloody and a bit gory and has couple of jump scares, everything else is very generic and quickly forgettable.

One of the most boring movies I've seen recently

[Seth_Rogue_One · 3/10 · 10 July 2015]

This movie starts off with a voice-over speaking about how what your about to see is based on a true story, which is all bs of course, in real life this movie is based on the 1976 movie with the same name which was indeed based on a true story, but only loosely.

The characters in this movie are all fictional however taking place in current date and it's more of a sequel than it is a remake as the original movie play a big part in this movie in terms of it's legend and the fact that the first murder occur in a annual screening of the movie.

All that really doesn't matter in the end I suppose as long as the movie entertains, which it really does not.

It's incredibly boring (even the many sex-scenes in it are boring), and to say that it's filled with clichés is a understatement; THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2014) is a cliché first and a movie second.

I actually expected a decent movie when I saw Anthony Anderson and Gary Cole was in it, but they are not in it all that much.

Anthony Anderson who I personally think is one of the funniest comedians plays a serious role this time, and when I say serious I don't mean dramatic I mean that his sheriff character appears to have a stick up his butt and wouldn't know a joke if his life depended on it. Pure and simply he's boring as a piece of wood in this one, and has the charm of it as well.

Gary Cole is not much better, he seems incredibly bored through out and that's all he does.

But the rest of the (unknown) cast is not that much better.

Okay music though but that doesn't help this uninspired waste of film whatsoever.

If you like really boring horror movies with poor from point a to point b story telling and a cast that look like they'd rather go to Pizza Hut than to make this movie, then yeah maybe this is for you, if you prefer your horrors to entertain than watch something else.

Director Gomez-Rejon has serious skills

[A_Different_Drummer · 8/10 · 30 November 2015]

Hate to tell the truth but whether or not you personally "liked" a film does not necessarily qualify you to review it.

This reviewer was hosting horror festivals when the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD came out, and the hardest thing to do in a horror flick is be subtle.

But this director has mad skills. And can do subtle.

The framing in many of the scenes is incredible, there are times you almost feel the characters on-screen are the only people left on the face of the earth.

And Gomez-Rejon also is shrewd enough to get more mileage out of Addison Timlin's face than a Prius.

And a nice face it is. I counted over 50 closeups and then stopped counting. Her character is the glue, the connection, for this story and she is set up as a shy girl who (quote) never gets asked out.

Which is why this story is fiction and not a documentary.

And you the viewer get to watch the whole story through her eyes.

The juxtaposition of the new movie and the "old movie" only makes my point -- putting this film alongside Whedon's Cabin in the Woods for cleverly deconstructing a tale from within the story arc itself.

I wanted to like this remake but....

[catfanatic888 · 6/10 · 8 February 2023]

The ORIGINAL movie with this same title was terrifying and shook me. I would recommend watching it before you watch this one. But either way, yes this one is a bit more modern and has better technical work of course. I even liked the actors and actresses just fine. The problem was the script. The first half was pretty good, building up the story and the tension throughout the town. However the second half just falls flat like the writers couldn't think of an ending they liked so they reached into a hat to pick one out. The killer made no sense despite the very flimsy explanation of it. The last 10 minutes try to tie up the whole plot in a big bow but it made no sense! It's very disappointing to drop the ball like that. I wouldn't waste my time again on this movie.

I must agree with what many others say here: Lame, boring, very poorly acted, and Predictable...

[lathe-of-heaven · 4/10 · 22 July 2015]

I was honestly going into this movie rather hopeful because I liked the premise and thought that it was a creative idea.

But... as you can probably tell by my Summary, I REALLY did not like it very much. Mainly, I find that what really kills it for me personally with these Horror films is the poor acting. Now, I realize that in many cases like with your Classic Slasher films and your more campy ones, you EXPECT the characters to be kind of corny caricatures and such; that usually adds to the fun. BUT... when the 'effort', such as it is, is clearly being made to be serious and straight-forward, AND the acting is superficial and completely abysmal, it genuinely puts me right off the film (if you want, please check out my comments about the recent, AWFUL 'HONEYMOON' along these lines...)

I really tried with this one, I truly did. But, almost from the start with the actresses phony tiny, little-girl voice, and the painfully OBVIOUS and PREDICTABLE scene at the funeral (GEEZ, never saw THAT coming *sarcastic*) and then the artificially soft, clichéd voice of the supposed 'Therapist', and even to my dismay, the absolutely TERRIBLE line readings from the well known Angela Cartwright... well, by then, I really had quite had it with this poorly done, horribly acted movie. Not to mention the pointless and tedious 'Sex' scenes that served no cinematic or filmic purpose whatsoever, unless HIGHLY amplified sucking and kissing sounds really get you off... And it was really sad too, because I was looking forward to seeing Ed Lauter's and Edward Herrmann's last performances.

I don't know... Maybe I should have given it more of a chance. If the acting hadn't been so painfully cringe-worthy, I probably would have. Some people here clearly seemed to like the film like Scarecrow88, who's reviews are usually quite helpful. Maybe I am missing something... Perhaps if you are not as fussy about the acting aspect of films like I am, you might be able to go with the story, but I personally truly found it to be very trite, boring, and completely uninvolving in ANY way whatsoever...

Not Good!

[jesusgualario · 2/10 · 2 December 2018]

The movie has a good concept but I can't get over how many mistakes are in this movie. The year is 2013 but the costume design is from the 70s, at the Sheriff's station a young man has what looks to be a 24" monitor for a Dell computer but the police themselves in another shot have REALLY old computers the ones with the fat backs. I get that it can be realistic it's a small town with low budgets for cops but even in the motel scene you have TVs with antennas from the 70s or 80s but they also have cellphones, the design it's all over the place and it was very distracting watching all these inconsistencies.