Synopsis
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) is a cult American horror-thriller you can watch online on iFILM — a docudrama built around the real, still-unsolved Phantom Killer attacks that terrorised Texarkana in the spring of 1946.
Director Charles B. Pierce shot on location in the actual city where the crimes took place, framing the story as a newsreel reconstruction complete with a deadpan narrator. Ben Johnson plays Sheriff Spraberry, brought in alongside a Texas Ranger to hunt a masked attacker who stalked parked cars after dark, targeting couples on isolated roads. Andrew Prine plays the Ranger, and their investigation keeps hitting dead ends — no prints, no motive, a killer who vanishes without a trace.
What makes this one stick is the blurred line between genre horror and crime journalism. Pierce cast local residents as extras, used real Texarkana streets, and leaned into the fact that no arrest was ever made. The Phantom Killer's identity remains unknown. Stream The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) online on iFILM.
Starring
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