The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976 film)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 1976 American thriller horror film directed and produced by Charles B. Pierce, and written by Earl E. Smith. The film is loosely based on the 1946 Texarkana Moonlight Murders, crimes attributed to an unidentified serial killer known as the Phantom Killer. It is narrated by Vern Stierman, who had narrated Pierce's 1972 film The Legend of Boggy Creek. Ben Johnson stars as Captain J.D. Morales, a fictionalized version of Texas Ranger Captain M. T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas. The Phantom is played by Bud Davis, who later worked as stunt coordinator on films such as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and Inglourious Basterds. The film was mostly shot around Texarkana, and a number of locals were cast as extras. The world premiere was held in Texarkana on December 17, 1976, before its regular run in theaters on December 24.

The film states that "the incredible story you are about to see is true, where it happened and how it happened; only the names have been changed." The actual Phantom attacked eight people in or near the town of Texarkana, Texas, which is on the Texas border with Arkansas. Most of the murders occurred in rural areas just outside Texarkana, in Bowie County, Texas, while the film has them occurring in Arkansas. However, the general outline of the murders largely follows reality, with mostly minor artistic license taken. As in the film, the real killer was never identified nor apprehended.

The film is loose enough with the facts that one family member of a victim filed a lawsuit in 1978 over its depiction of his sister. The film's tagline claims that the man who killed five people "still lurks the streets of Texarkana, Ark.," causing officials of that neighboring city to threaten Pierce over the ads in 1977. It remained on the posters. A sequel with the same name was released on October 16, 2014.