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The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Play trailer Poster for The Town That Dreaded Sundown R 2014 1h 25m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
66% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
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The Town That Dreaded Sundown

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

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Critics Consensus

It may occasionally mistake more gore for genuine terror, but The Town That Dreaded Sundown is just stylish and clever enough to justify this second stab at the source material.

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Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Romney Observer (UK) 04/19/2015
3/5
With its small-town atmospherics, a juicy supporting cast of character players, plus Addison Timlin's personable, plucky "final girl", this Town is pulled off with polished, enjoyable brashness ... Go to Full Review Geoffrey Macnab Independent (UK) 04/16/2015
3/5
This is an exercise in nostalgia as much as bloodletting. The filmmakers are paying their very own tribute to teen-horror pics of the 1970s. Go to Full Review Wendy Ide The Times (UK) 04/16/2015
4/5
Not a straight remake of the 1976 cult horror movie, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is more a self-referential homage that takes the original film's legacy and embellishes it. Go to Full Review Joe Lipsett Bloody Disgusting 02/22/2020
...that's my larger overall problem with The Town That Dreaded Sundown: it makes the capital mistake of thinking that graphic violence and visual panache is enough to keep its audience entertained. Go to Full Review John Bleasdale CineVue 04/04/2019
2/5
So much obvious thought has gone into making the film visually striking that the script seems to have gone unread. There's no other explanation for the woeful stupidity of some of the characters' actions and the blandness of the dialogue. Go to Full Review Bill Graham The Film Stage 03/02/2016
C+
While its tone wildly varies, when it comes to the glut of horror remakes, it's a slight step ahead of the standard batch. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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B P @Bradster69 13h Not Bad, but Not My Favorite See more Jerry J. @JJnTJ Jun 21 Great movie. Entertaining, thriller with some good scenes. See more Joaquin U @Joaquin1 Jun 10 Mildly entertaining. A slasher with the usual ingredients, good aesthetics, and a few nice sequences. Yet, the script is mediocre and disconnected, the characters bland and dumb, their personal stories even dumber. Watchable, but if you’re sleepy, skip it — you won’t miss anything worth staying up for. See more prawnda s @RT72497680 Oct 5 the audience that dreaded ryan murphy..... See more 07/20/2025 Such a good movie. Horror fans will love this. Great story, great killings, great acting. So surprised it has 40% audience score like what See more Juan B @RT05957325 07/12/2025 It was meh. Full of bad decisions and 'come on' moments. The plot was forced. I like the aesthetic, like a vintage movie from the 70s or 80s. But I wouldn't watch it again. See more Read all reviews
The Town That Dreaded Sundown

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Cast & Crew

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Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Director

Addison Timlin

Jami

Travis Tope

Nick

Spencer Treat Clark

Corey

Veronica Cartwright

Lillian

Gary Cole

Chief Deputy Tillman

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The Town That Dreaded Sundown

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Director
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Producer
Jason Blum, Ryan Murphy
Screenwriter
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Distributor
Orion Pictures
Production Co
Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Blumhouse Productions
Rating
R (Grisly Images|Brutal Violence|Language|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 16, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 6, 2016
Runtime
1h 25m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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