The Comeback

Entertaining British slasher with an intriguing storyline and a cast which is better than it is on paper. Crooner Jack Jones start as a recording star making a comeback after 6 years and separation from his wife. What follows is the usual storyline of is he going mad (hearing and seeing frightening things in this creepy house), or is it something else. Mr and Mrs B, in charge of the house, are certainly creepy enough. A few red herrings do leave you guessing the ending and Jones does a decent job playing the lead role. Add a young Pamela Stephenson as the female lead and you have an interesting 90 odd minutes of suspense.

Nick Cooper (Jack Jones) is a singer in desperate need of a comeback. So he holes up at a creepy country estate (that's your first mistake right there) hoping to be inspired. He instead finds himself tortured by the restless spirit of his murdered wife (get it? She COMES BACK?).

The film features New Zealand star Pamela Stephenson (Bloodbath at the House of Death, History of the World, Part I), who can be depended upon to show great nudity, and she briefly exposes herself here.

Not too crazy about the ending. but you do get to see Charlie's Angels' Bosley in full drag.

Watch closely, as Jack Jones sings in the new film American Hustle.

Being famous can have its drawbacks. Famous singer Jack Jones plays Nick Cooper, a well-known pop singer who relocates to a London estate to start recording music again following his divorce from his wife Gail(Holly Palance). Little does he know while he was flying to England, his ex-wife is brutally murdered. While he was trying to reclaim his past fame, the people he is staying with have a secret that is even well- hidden from Nick. The stay at the estate was not very pleasant to him. He would hear moans, sobbing, and crying from within, and the caretakers take his complaints very lightly. Not only that his wife gets killed, his friend Harry (Peter Turner) gets stabbed as well. So when Nick began to start losing his mind, the insanity points out to the people he is staying with. To me, that estate was nothing more than tourist trap. Jack Jones has put a performance on both music and the big screen. David Doyle has been well known as John Bosley on "Charlie's Angels". This movie is quite subtle, and not too violent. Has plenty of suspense though. This one is great for the music buffs. 2 out of 5 stars

A singer (Jack Jones) holes up at a sinister estate to write new songs for his act. The ghost of his murdered wife (Holly Palance) begins to haunt him, then the person who actually killed her shows up at the mansion.

How did this title wind up in the hands of Troma? Granted, over the years a number of decent films (many of them horror) have found their way into Troma's catalog, but this one is strong enough that it could easily have been picked up by MGM or Warner or someone with a little more respect.

I am not familiar with Jack Jones' singing or acting career. I only know he performed the "Love Boat" theme and was the third husband of Jill St. John. I think he did a great job here as the lead, and makes a believable everyman. Another reviewer said he looks like Robert Redford. I guess I can see it, but let us not get carried away!

As for Pete Walker, who was ignored and unappreciated in his day, this is probably among his best work. On top of the decent plot, we have gore, blood and rotting corpses... everything you want from a horror film.

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about this late 70's British set horror is that it features bill owen, he of u.k old folks fave tv show 'last of the summer wine' fame, amongst it's cast. Anyone familiar with bill's family friendly sitcom work, will be perturbed to find him appearing in a film that features various stabbings , a shot of actress Pamela stevenson's bare behind and a scene where a character describes his favourite breast size.This is truly as far from Sunday teatime tv as you can possibly get. Bill's casting aside, this is standard pete walker fare, it's all bawdy, bloody fun for 90 minutes and then back to reality with the vaguest recollection of what you just saw. Don't get me wrong pete walker, like his contemporary Norman j Warren did offer a very distinctive British flavour to 1970's horror cinema and his film's were never less than enjoyable, it's just 'the comeback's tale of singer returning to the limelight, whilst being tormented by a bloodthirsty killer, feels to me like every other script for his work and that is that it's underwritten and the finished film undercooked.