Jack's Back (1988)

A serial killer in Los Angeles celebrates Jack the Ripper's 100th birthday by committing similar murders and only one has a chance of stopping him.

Director:

Rowdy Herrington

Writer:

Rowdy Herrington

Stars:

James Spader, Cynthia Gibb, Jim Haynie

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Spader	...	John / Rick Wesford
Cynthia Gibb	...	Chris Moscari
Jim Haynie	...	Sgt. Gabriel
Robert Picardo	...	Dr. Carlos Battera
Rod Loomis	...	Dr. Sidney Tannerson
Rex Ryon	...	Jack Pendler
Chris Mulkey	...	Scott Morofsky
Wendell Wright	...	Capt. Walter Prentis
John Wesley	...	Sam Hilliard
Bobby Hosea	...	Tom Dellerton
Danitza Kingsley	...	Denise Johnson
Anne Betancourt	...	Mary
Diane Erickson	...	Andrea Banks
Sis Greenspon	...	Martha
Graham Timbes	...	Surgeon

Storyline

A young doctor is suspected when a series of Jack the Ripper copycat killings is committed. However, when the doctor himself is murdered, his identical twin brother claims to have seen visions of the true killer.

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Plot Keywords:

woman in jeopardy | murder of a prostitute | female removes her clothes | psychopathic killer | strip club owner | 

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Taglines:

One hundred years ago in the city of London a man shocked the world by murdering, raping and mutilating five women. He was never caught. (Video Australia)

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Red Rain

Filming Locations:

635 South Mateo Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$492,519

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Group, Palissades Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Rowdy Harrington originally wanted the movie to be titled "Red Rain" and Peter Gabriel's song of the same name was meant to play at the opening credits. Since this was a low budget film, he couldn't get the rights to the song, so he hired Paul Saax to compose the song "Red Harvest" instead. Shortly before the movie release, the studio felt that the title "Red Rain" had no relation to the plot so they decided to change to a more appealing title, "Jack's Back".

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Goofs

Identical twins do not have the same fingerprints.

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Quotes

John: [dressing the old woman's hand wound] "You free Saturday night?"

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Jack the Ripper Goes West (2013)

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Soundtracks

Back in My Arms Again
Words and Music by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland (as Edward Holland)
Published by Stone Agate Music (A Division of Jobete Music Co. Inc.)
Rerecorded by Jake Sattelite

User Reviews

I enjoyed it.

It's been a long time since I've seen this but I enjoyed the movie and thought that James Spader gave a great performance. My best friend had it taped off TV and was mentioning the movie one day and hunted it out for us to watch after I had said that I had never seen it or even heard of it, which was odd because I was a fan of James Spader.

The movie has a lot of twists and turns and the excitement builds up and you really get engrossed in the film. James and Cynthia had great chemistry and I agree with others that their romance was not done in a typical, over-done fashion.

The title of the movie is bad and makes you think automatically that it will just be some stupid B movie but it's actually one of the best thrillers I've seen and definitely the best thriller out of the "B" section. I think if the film had more publicity and a better cover/title more people would know of it and want to rent it.

I would recommend it to anyone that likes a good thriller, especially ones that they've never heard of and want to be surprised.