the town that dreaded sundown real story

The final attack by the hooded killer took place on the night of April 13. 1980’s Monster Toys Madballs Make Another Comeback! After some time, a woman by the name of Peggy Stevens Swinney, newly married that same day to Youell Swinney, turned up to claim the vehicle. March 24, 1946 another couple was confronted in a different area also known as a “lover’s lane.” This time, both victims were not so lucky. Even though Youell was the youngest, his low birth order garnered no sympathy from his parents and he was often forgotten and set aside in favor of his siblings. Hollis claimed that he was a young Caucasian, but Larey was certain that the suspect was African American. Does Your Horror Feature or Short Need Worldwide Distribution? In this article, you will find The Town That Dreaded Sundown Review, Rating, and Synopsis. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) Welcome to HouseOfHorrors.com, the most extensive Horror Movie Collection on earth and the favorite destination for millions of our horror genre fans for more than 20 years. After Martin and Booker were killed, the Texarkana Daily News used the “Phantom Killer” moniker in a headline, which was soon used to describe him by the national media. It was initially met with resistance towards some of the imagery depicted of the town, while the language of the promotional posters was met with defiance since it stated that the Phantom Killer was still lurking. The hooded perpetrator’s behavior, at times erratic, seemed to suggest an uncertainty in his actions. In the two months that followed, 1,300 suspects were dragged to the police station and interviewed before being released. The annual showing of The Town that Dreaded Sundown attracts a crowd of several hundred people who anxiously wait for the show as a Halloween tradition (something that features in the 2014 remake of the same name). However, around the same area by the vehicle Sheriff Presley then found a small black date book that he would later discover belonged to Paul Martin. The sheriff believed that the attack on Larey and Hollis was just a part of the normal criminal activity in Texarkana, or even an isolated event, so the police department did not believe that an active, involved search of the suspect was necessary. Apply Now. Some were grieving Texarkana residents, but many others were out of towners who retained morbid curiosity about the double homicide. Peggy Swinney stated that on the night of April 13, 1946, she and Youell Swinney had left the hotel they were staying at and drove to Spring Lake Park, where Youell told her that he was going to find someone there to rob. It was at this point that Sheriff Presley decided to call on the help of the Texas Rangers in order to identify the type of gun used in the murder from the casings that were left at the scene. Upon capture, the suspect made several strange comments such as, “Please don’t shoot me!” to which Tackett replied, “I’m not going to shoot you for stealing cars.” “Mister, don’t play games with me. Centered in Texarkana, Texas in 1946 a series of assaults and murders by a man wearing a sack over his face turns the friendly town into a community that quickly becomes scared of it's own shadow. A slender man dressed in a white shirt spotted Lee and abruptly fled the scene. Pierce's The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976). The officers immediately secured the house in order to prevent previous mistakes that had been made by this investigation. Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey were a young couple both in the process of divorcing other people. Although the Rangers did not have specific educational requirements, they were trained in the latest techniques of navigating a crime scene, which included analyzing ballistics and fingerprints, communicating, and record keeping. Those around him gave him credit for killing 75 outlaws on his own, but he apparently insisted they were always justified shootings. Local and federal law enforcement seemed to be kicking everything into high gear, but nothing was reassuring the people of Texarkana. The sheriff did not want to strain the already fragile town and create further racial tension based on Larey’s seemingly unfounded claims that the attacker was an African American man. So, instead of charging him with murder and having a jury possibly dismiss the case, authorities on both the Texas and Arkansas sides decided to get Swinney off the streets. However, in spite of this, there was some evidence found at the scene of the crime that came in handy. Texarkana had a string of murders take place years prior, which gave it a wild west sort of reputation. Although he had been caught early into this decision, the start of WWII got him released from jail until he violated parole months later. However, from accounts of neighbors and friends of the family, Stanley was a cold father who did not particularly care for his own children. Simultaneously, local law enforcement as well as their FBI and Ranger cohorts had a revolving door of suspects who were constantly in and out of the station. At the horrifying scene the police unable to control the crowd gathered at the scene from interfering. Approached by Cleon Partain, a knowledgeable car trader, the man stated that he was interested in selling his vehicle due to unemployment and an inability to make the payments. It is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime. He was wearing a light-colored long-sleeved shirt, with his arms and hands in front of him (Presley, p. 52, 2014). After Hollis awoke from a 15-day coma it turned out that the some of their testimony proved to be unhelpful since they provided conflicting descriptions of the suspect. Mays was able to provide State Trooper Tackett with a license plate number from a car that he had seen his tenant driving. The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1974) claims that “the incredible story you are about to see is true, where it happened and how it happened; only the names have been changed.” That’s a pretty serious claim, setting this film apart from the usual “based on a true story” horror movies. The Lone Wolf even had to deal with the constant rumors that were typical of a small southern town, one of the most notable being that the Phantom Killer was gnawing the breasts of the girls he had murdered. It was directed by Charles B. Upon inspection, Partain asked the apparent owner if he had the title for the car. In 2003, the Texas Parks & Recreation department has started showing the original film in Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, TX. A minor relative of Swinney recalled his habits, which included leaving the car parked in a certain Texarkana lot. Film Review: ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’ The 'American Horror Story' team remakes the cult 1976 slasher with gimmicky, mostly unscary results. However, these efforts would be for nothing, since the Phantom would soon strike again. That same morning, fellow residents of Texarkana and their young son found the crumpled body of a young man on the side of North Park Road at 6 a.m. Mortified, the family did not leave their car, but instead drove to the closest home to the crime scene, where the residents called the authorities. The killer had dipped his hands in Virgil’s blood and made a pretty vile scene. When they entered the Starks’ home, they found Virgil’s slumped over body, the smoke of the short-circuited heating pad, and numerous bloody handprints all over the furniture and the walls. I went to see The Town That Dreaded Sundown with no further information than it being a remake of some horror film from the seventies that I haven’t seen. A recounting of the 1946 Moonlight Murders in Texarkana, Texas, Charles B. Pierce’s pseudo-documentary presents a sleepy town haunted by a sadistic killer prowling its streets. The real killer was never found. For example, when the tow truck came to take the car away, officers failed to wear gloves and, in the process, muddled the possibility of collecting fingerprints of the suspect by adding their own. They assumed it was a police officer making his nightly rounds, but instead they were confronted by an armed, masked man with a flashlight and a gun. Horror Writers Wanted! Further to this, she had not been heard from all night. Despite this, little was done, in the days following the attack, to find the suspect. They titled their article “Texarkana Terror, Southern City is panicked by the killer who shoots according to schedule” a fact that was only true in one instance, but mostly the article covered the reaction of the citizens in the wake of the murders. It was apparent through her statements regarding her husband that he was the Phantom Killer and she knew of certain information that would have been exclusive knowledge only to the killer and any accomplices he might have. Still in shock, Katie dropped to the floor to avoid any more bullets and then fled to the bedroom to search for the personal firearm that Virgil kept there. Aside from murder, Texarkana was also regularly the site of high-speed chases with police in pursuit of traffickers running liquor from Louisiana to Oklahoma, as well as shootouts, hold-ups, and knife fights. The first Texas Ranger to arrive in Texarkana was Jimmy Greer. The concept behind the film, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, is actually a lot more interesting then the film itself. The writer also created completely fictional scenarios, including a chase between law enforcement and the killer, which have colored the public’s perception of the truth for many years. This masked killer terrorized a small Southern city over a six month period in 1946. Screenwriter Early E. Smith follows the basic outline of the crimes, but adds exploitative elements to the narrative which undercut the film’s credibility. This also meant that bloodhounds, who were brought in to track the attacker’s path, were unable to follow a single distinct scent. POV Horror Has The Best Found-Footage Horror! Reach 250,000+ A Month on Display, Mobile, OTT VOD Apps and Video, Worst to First: Ranking the Fright Night Franchise, Zoo is a Compelling and Dark Love Story [Review]. Upon arrest of Swinney, the murders abruptly stopped. Even today the film is shown once a year around Halloween in an outdoor theater in Texarkana. Mr. Partain advised the seller that he should return once he had the title in his possession, and that they might then reach an agreement. Green for all their help! On September 15, 1994, Youell Lee Swinney died a free man in a Dallas nursing home. Virgil had been shot twice in the back of the head and once in the lower back, which short-circuited the heading pad he was using. Convinced that Virgil had dropped something and broken it, Katie left the bedroom to attend to her husband, but found that Virgil was slumped dead in his armchair, blood seeping down his neck. His suspicions were confirmed when a complaint was called in from a Murfreesboro, Arkansas farmer Jim Mays, who was also a landlord. The Starks lived on a 500 acre farm that housed Virgil’s welding shop, which had a reputation for helping his neighbors repair broken farming equipment when needed. CLICK HERE FOR MORE! Meanwhile, when Betty finds herself at the center of a deepening mystery, her decision to keep some parts of it from Jughead causes further friction between the two. World War II also contributed heavily to the sudden skyrocketing population of Texarkana. Then, for unknown reasons, after Hollis collapsed from his injuries, the stranger told Larey to run. The officers tried to interview the victims who were identified as Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey at the scene, but Hollis was so badly injured he could barely retain consciousness. Copyright © 2019 WickedHorror.com - All Rights Reserved. The Town That Dreaded Sundown was released into theaters on December 24th, 1976. Local groups also offered up money for any potential leads totaling up to $4,280, which in today’s money is about $53,000. However, The Town That Dreaded Sundown did upset many of the residents and even resulted in an (unsuccessful) lawsuit from one a brother of one of the victims. Are You A Horror Filmmaker? Although the tragic events of the Phantom Killer are still in the minds of many in the town, the film The Town that Dreaded Sundown has been able to serve as a festive event. Appearing before the Court without an attorney, the defendant advised the judge that he wanted to represent himself. People from all over the country flocked to the town, following the opening of the Red River Ordnance Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant. Additionally, there was a lot of blood found outside of the vehicle, which led to speculation that both Griffin and Moore were outside of their car when they were shot.  This indicated the entry of the FBI into the Texarkana murders case, another large law enforcement agency to aid the small town. Soon, no one was venturing out after dark, as many residents were terrified and shut themselves into their houses at night. The new version of The Town That Dreaded Sundown comes from the team of producer Ryan Murphy, director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, whose shared TV credits include Glee and American Horror Storyand they apply a similar visual style to The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The movie: In theory, The Town that Dreaded Sundown should be one of the most bone-chilling films of all-time. Thirty years after the attacks of the Texarkana Phantom, a horror movie entitled The Town That Dreaded Sundown was released in theatres, on December 24, 1976.  According to the film, it portrayed a true story depicting accurate events with only the names changed. Even those in Little Rock, about two and half hours away, were locking themselves in their houses, afraid that the Phantom would start to move where he killed. This was the first of many petty crimes to come, with Youell’s teen years plagued with him being troubled and constantly running into law enforcement. 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