Rating: 2.5/5
Hooptober 9.0 | 17/52 | 1970s regional US films 2/2
Sunday, March 3rd, 1946. Texarkana, Texas.
Sammy drives Linda Mae out to park in Lover’s Lane. Sammy tries to get fresh with Linda Mae, but she pushes him off when she hears strange noises outside the car. A man appears, his face covered in a mask with eyeholes cut out. He breaks the window with a pipe, pulling Sammy out. The killer then crawls into the car with Linda Mae.
The following morning, a car finds Linda Mae, bloodied and covered in bite marks, on the side of the road. She is alive, begging for help.
Thus begins an (incredibly) loose retelling of the 1946 Texas Moonlight Murders. The police refer to the killer as the Phantom Killer, and they never catch him.
The bulk of the movie is dry police procedural and awful cop humor.
The cinematography is routine, performing the desired function of feeling like we’re watching police work. Its creative peak is shaking when an officer hears a gunshot.
The murder scenes, though, are tense and genuinely terrifying.
The movie doesn’t offer much that justifies checking it out.