A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year

[9 of 13]

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN

(September 2014)

"In the spring of 1946, in the small town of Texarkana, on the Texas-Arkansas border, a series of horrific murders were committed by a masked assailant known only as ‘The Phantom Killer.’”

 “In 1976, a film inspired by the infamous ‘Moonlight Murders’ was released. Every year, on Halloween, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is screened somewhere in Texarkana, in tribute to the Phantom’s legacy of death and blood.

“Today, Texarkana is a place haunted by its past, defined by a mystery that was never solved, and a tragedy that could never be forgotten.”

So this is an interesting one.

“Based on the 1976 film entitled ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown,’ written by Earl E. Smith,” Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s identically titled piece is ostensibly a remake, but actually something arguably more ambitious.

It’s a film that’s set in the real world, or at least, a world much like our own, where the late Charles B. Pierce* did indeed direct a film entitled The Town That Dreaded Sundown, which was released in 1976, and was itself based on a series of unsolved murders in 1946.

Now, while the screenplay--by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who’s written for film (the Carrie remake), television (a bunch of Glee and some Big Love), stage (the Dallas Theater Center production of It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman and Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) and comics** (he’s currently chief creative officer of Archie Comics Publications)--doesn’t necessarily break new ground as far as this type of movie goes, it’s really Gomez-Rejon’s directorial flair that seals the deal on this.

Bringing the same kind of visual bravura he brings to his American Horror Story episodes (aided and abetted by Michael Goi, who shot all the post-Pilot episodes of Salem as well as a whole slew of AHS, and Joe Leonard, who’s edited over a season’s worth of Glee), Gomez-Rejon’s work here is quite possibly the biggest reason to see this one.

But if you need more, there’s a whole bunch of familiar genre faces here, from Veronica Cartwright to Gary Cole to Denis O’Hare (playing Charles B. Pierce, Jr., the son of the man who directed the original 1976 Town!) to Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project’s very own “Josh”).

Produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy (and thus, the presence of all the Glee and AHS alumni becomes readily apparent), this new The Town That Dreaded Sundown is an interesting (and at times, vicious) piece that comes with a hearty ¡Qué Horror! stamp of approval.

When I sat down to watch this one, it had been quite a while since I’d last seen the 1976 version, but Aguirre-Sacasa’s script does an excellent job of paralleling the on-screen events with the plot of the original, as well as the real-life crimes (including an apparently tangential case that was not previously touched on).

So, whether you’ve seen the original or not, Gomez-Rejon’s quasi-remake should still work its bloody, brutal magic on you…

* Pierce also brought us The Legend of Boggy Creek, which scared the crap out of me when Channel 9 (if I remember right) used to show it way back when I was a wee horrorhead…

** Alongside Robert Hack, Aguirre-Sacasa is also absolutely killing it on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, currently one of the best horror comics out there...

Parting Shot: The art on the original Town OS above? By the late Ralph McQuarrie.

Yes, that Ralph McQuarrie. You can even find samples of poster comps under the film’s working title, Phantom, at Ralph McQuarrie’s official Facebook page.

(The Town That Dreaded Sundown OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

¡Qué horror! 2015

Candidate #2

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN

(September 2014)

"In the spring of 1946, in the small town of Texarkana, on the Texas-Arkansas border, a series of horrific murders were committed by a masked assailant known only as ‘The Phantom Killer.’”

 “In 1976, a film inspired by the infamous ‘Moonlight Murders’ was released. Every year, on Halloween, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is screened somewhere in Texarkana, in tribute to the Phantom’s legacy of death and blood.

“Today, Texarkana is a place haunted by its past, defined by a mystery that was never solved, and a tragedy that could never be forgotten.”

So this is an interesting one.

“Based on the 1976 film entitled ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown,’ written by Earl E. Smith,” Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s identically titled piece is ostensibly a remake, but actually something arguably more ambitious.

It’s a film that’s set in the real world, or at least, a world much like our own, where the late Charles B. Pierce* did indeed direct a film entitled The Town That Dreaded Sundown, which was released in 1976, and was itself based on a series of unsolved murders in 1946.

Now, while the screenplay--by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who’s written for film (the Carrie remake), television (a bunch of Glee and some Big Love), stage (the Dallas Theater Center production of It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman and Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) and comics (he’s currently chief creative officer of Archie Comics Publications)--doesn’t necessarily break new ground as far as this type of movie goes, it’s really Gomez-Rejon’s directorial flair that seals the deal on this.

Bringing the same kind of visual bravura he brings to his American Horror Story episodes (aided and abetted by Michael Goi, who shot all the post-Pilot episodes of Salem as well as a whole slew of AHS, and Joe Leonard, who’s edited over a season’s worth of Glee), Gomez-Rejon’s work here is quite possibly the biggest reason to see this one.

But if you need more, there’s a whole bunch of familiar genre faces here, from Veronica Cartwright to Gary Cole to Denis O’Hare (playing Charles B. Pierce, Jr., the son of the man who directed the original 1976 Town!) to Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project’s very own “Josh”).

Produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy (and thus, the presence of all the Glee and AHS alumni becomes readily apparent), this new The Town That Dreaded Sundown is an interesting (and at times, vicious) piece that comes with a hearty ¡Qué horror! stamp of approval.

When I sat down to watch this one, it had been quite a while since I’d last seen the 1976 version, but Aguirre-Sacasa’s script does an excellent job of paralleling the on-screen events with the plot of the original, as well as the real-life crimes (including an apparently tangential case that was not previously touched on).

So, whether you’ve seen the original or not, Gomez-Rejon’s quasi-remake should still work its bloody, brutal magic on you…

* Pierce also brought us The Legend of Boggy Creek, which scared the crap out of me when Channel 9 (if I remember right) used to show it way back when I was a wee horrorhead…

Parting Shot: The art on the original Town OS above? By the late Ralph McQuarrie.

Yes, that Ralph McQuarrie. You can even find samples of poster comps under the film’s working title, Phantom, at Ralph McQuarrie’s official Facebook page.

(The Town That Dreaded Sundown OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

¡Qué horror! 2014

Candidate #13

HANNIBAL Season 2

(February 2014)

So, yeah, in a year that had some strong potential TV horror entries, no one could touch Hannibal.

True, Bryan Fuller’s exquisitely constructed mix tape adaptation of Thomas Harris’ serial killer novels was on its sophomore season, while most of the other TV horror contenders were freshman series, but hey, it managed to tie with Les Revenants for a ¡Qué horror! slot last year, and they were both freshmen shows back then…

As we inch ever closer to a third adaptation of Red Dragon and the tantalizing possibility of a television rendition of The Silence of the Lambs (with Agent Schmarice Schmarling, if MGM can’t be bothered to play nice), Fuller and company continue to stage the most elegantly audacious and horrific serial killer scenarios this side of American network television.

If you haven’t gotten a, ahem, taste of Hannibal, you really ought to…

Parting Shot 1: For the record, the other horror series I hoped would be contenders but ultimately weren’t are:

Salem – honestly, a lot better than I thought it would be. A pleasant surprise (with a kickass opening title sequence orchestrated to a Marilyn Manson ditty) that still has some issues which, hopefully, will get resolved in its sophomore run.

Penny Dreadful – I absolutely love the first two episodes (directed by J.A. Bayona and shot by Xavi Giménez), but subsequent episodes don’t quite come up to that opening, impressive level.

Again, some issues need to be worked out… having Bayona and Giménez on board for all of Season 2’s episodes would be an awesome start!

But, barring that, I’m still stoked to hear that we get more of odd duck Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle, as Simon Russell Beale is reportedly being upgraded to series regular.

Huzzah!

The Strain – this was the one that hurt. Given the pedigree of the show (Guillermo del Toro and Carlton Cuse), I wanted this show to kick ass.

Sadly, even though the one-and-done guest appearances of some familiar genre faces (like Larry Fessenden and Aaron Douglas) were much appreciated, it’s still got a whole slew of issues that need to be fixed.

As with the above two shows, The Strain’s also got a second season renewal, so here’s hoping they make the most of it, ‘cause they’ve got lots of tweaking to do to get this show pitch perfect…

Parting Shot 2: And while we’re on the subject of television, the pilot episode for Chris Carter’s new show for Amazon, The After, is mighty interesting.

Yes, the premise is not exactly new (it’s a mash-up between the “a bunch of strangers find themselves working together to survive an apocalyptic disaster” and “a bunch of not-so-random strangers thrown together, seemingly by fate” set-ups), but hey, this is Chris Carter, so I’m über-curious where he plans to take the story.

Plus, an initially unrecognizable Jamie Kennedy and Sharon Lawrence!

And a projected 99 episode run based, at least structurally, on Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia. (And I’m assuming he meant 99 episodes past the pilot, since there are 100 cantos in the Commedia.)

Given my fascination with Dante that stretches back all the way to high school (thank you, Mr. Manny Leviste!), there was no way I was gonna pass this up.

I’m so in, Mr. Carter…

(Hannibal OS’ courtesy of aintitcool.com and impawards.com; Salem and Penny Dreadful OS’ courtesy of impawards.com; The Strain OS courtesy of collider.com; The After image courtesy of seriable.com.)