The Town That Dreaded Sundown [1976] [DVD]

It may sound like a tacky horror flick but this is actually an intriguing true-story thriller about a serial killer who preyed on young couples in a small US town in 1946. It charts the three-month period when the hooded sadist terrorised the community and left a hardcase Texas Ranger (played by western veteran Ben Johnson) and the local police chasing shadows.

The heavy-breathing, hooded hulk certainly smacks of Michael Myers from iconic horror Halloween (released two years later), but this is no slasher flick (despite one victim meeting a rather nasty end by trombone). It's more in the tradition of true-crime docudrama complete with stentorian narration to keep you abreast of the historical facts.

But in a tale containing brutal murders, the levity from a comedy-relief cop (played by director Charles B Pierce), who resorts to dressing in drag with other hefty-looking lawmen to trap the killer, is somewhat misplaced. Nevertheless, car chases, some Peckinpah-inspired slo-mo action and the race-against-time climax to catch the psycho at least keep things bubbling.