The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) – WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie?

Over a ten week period in 1946, a mysterious maniac known as the Phantom Killer stalked the Texarkana area, attacking and killing multiple people. These crimes, which have been called the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, served as the basis of the 1976 classic The Town That Dreaded Sundown (watch it HERE) – and we’re digging into the true story behind the film with the new episode of our video series WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie? Check it out in the embed above!

Sort of a spin-off from our show WTF Happened to This Horror Movie, WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie? dives into movies that were based on or “inspired by” true stories, real people, and actual historical events so we can try to separate fact from fiction. 

Directed by Charles B. Pierce from a screenplay by Earl E. Smith, The Town That Dreaded Sundown has the following synopsis:

In 1946, the joy and relief over the ending of World War II, and the happiness over the prosperity that followed, was destroyed for the residents of Texarkana by a series of traumatic experiences that many still remember. In the Spring of that year, five townspeople were brutally murdered and three brought to near death by a masked madman who eluded capture by the Texas Rangers and a host of other law enforcement agencies. This true-to-life thriller is a dramatization of those five still unsolved murders which sent local residents into a panic and caused their town to become an armed camp after sundown.

The film stars Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells, Jimmy Clem, Jim Citty, Robert Aquino, Cindy Butler, Christine Ellsworth, and Pierce.

This episode of WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

The previous episodes of this series focused on Jaws and The Exorcist, and you can watch them below. To check out the other shows we have on the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel, head over to the channel – and subscribe while you’re there!