THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2014)

[indianasmith]

I'll have to admit that I never saw the 1976 original movie, but I remember that the commercials for it scared the crap out of me when I was a 12 year old boy!  I'm not as skittish of remakes as some here are; I've seen some that I really liked (Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN) and some that left me totally cold (FRIDAY THE 13TH) or just made me mad (LAND OF THE LOST).

The thing is, this movie isn't a remake.  It isn't really a sequel either.  It floats somewhere between the two.
The story is set in the fall of 2013, as the town's drive-in is showing the original movie, based on a series of murders that occurred there in 1946.  A young couple leave the movie and head to Lover's Lane, where they are attacked and the boy is killed by a masked murderer dressed exactly like the killer in the original movie.  The girl is spared with a warning:  "This is for Mary - make them remember!"
The killing begins in earnest then, and the townspeople react with shock and horror as the killings seem to be patterned on the murders in the original film, which were based on real killings from 70 years before.

Lots of plot twists and turns, solid character development, and some truly gruesome kills make this a great, suspenseful horror film that anyone should enjoy.  ****1/2 out of *****

[Jack]

I saw the original and it was sort of different.  Very much a documentary style thing which I wasn't expecting.  Sort of mediocre otherwise though.

Think I started watching the remake once but I dunno, must have been one of those evenings when I watch 5 minutes of 5 movies before settling on one to watch all the way through, and this was one of the five lol.

[The Burgomaster]

I saw the original back in the 1980s and I didn't care for it at all.  I watched it again recently and I liked it a little more . . . but it still isn't very good.  Without Ben Johnson it would have been a total waste of time.

[dean]

I think the worst thing I can say about this kind of remake is that it is largely forgettable. I enjoyed it when I watched it: a decent horror movie which was handled well especially it's painfully small budget [though I would've rated it lower than Indy did] but I am really struggling to remember a single scene other than little flashes, and that isn't a good thing.