THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2014) Blu-ray Review

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) d. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (USA)

One of the smarter and genuinely worthwhile remakes to come along in recent memory, this updating of the 1976 Charles B. Pierce drive-in stalwart manages to both acknowledge and incorporate its predecessor, using the original 1946 murders and the docudrama they inspired as the springboard for an entirely new spate of slayings in modern day Texarkana. Following a Halloween-night screening of Pierce’s film, local gal Jami (Addison Timlin) sees her boyfriend (Spencer Treat Clark) brutally butchered before her eyes by none other than the gunny-sacked “Phantom Killer,” who then releases her to spread the word that he has returned... and that more blood will soon be shed.

VAMP U (2013) movie review

Vamp U (2013) (1st viewing) d. Jesperson, Matt / Nelson, Maclain (USA)

Don’t let the generic title (a considerable improvement over original moniker Dr. Limptooth) and poster art scare you off; this modest horror/comedy boasts bountiful bloodsucking rewards to be reaped.

When a bout of unbridled passion with lady love Julie Gonzalo leads to a fatal hickey, undead Adam Johnson swears off his vampy ways for centuries, now existing as a mild mannered, well-liked college professor. This arrangement works out fine, aided by the occasional therapy session with dubious doc Gary Cole, until Gonzalo reappears on campus as a new student. Is she resurrected, reincarnated or something else? Either way, her presence stokes (or perhaps Stokers) Johnson’s bloodlust back to full flower, leading to afterschool specials of the hot and hungry kind.