The Comeback

There are certainly are a few (so called)well made, big budget horror films that are not as entertaining as this one. Jack Jones gives it all he's got as an actor and looks like he is having a ball. All in all IMHO an enjoyable piece of late night hokum.

In the opening scene we see Gail ( Holly Palance ) pop star Nick Cooper's (Jack Jones) separated wife get killed with a scythe across the face. Nick is attempting a comeback. Although he is described as a sinful gyrating pop star, his music is more akin to Andy Williams. At night Nick has visions of his rotting wife and hears her voice, although only the killer knows she is dead. This is the film where the killer wears a hag mask so that the people (s)he kills can't identify him (her). The film was mildly camp. Once the killer is revealed and why, it only gets worse. I didn't like it. Lovers of old mildly campy films might like it. I prefer "House of Whipcord" for era camp. F-bomb. Near sex. near nudity.

"The Comeback" stars singer Jack Jones as a faded singer Nick Cooper,returning to Britain from the States to record a comeback album.Meanwhile,a transvestite maniac in a wig,fright mask and granny-dress has killed his ex-wife and starts knocking off everyone close to him.Typically gruesome Pete Walker's shocker filled with suspense and bloody murders.There is also an air of self-parody here plus a good deal of humour,still fans of Grand Guignol horror shouldn't be disappointed.I have only seen two other horror films made by Pete Walker "Schizo" and "Flesh and the Blood Show" and I'm highly impressed.So if you are a fan of British horror or slasher flicks in general give this one a look.

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.

Jack Jones, the seventies MOR crooner, doesn't disgrace himself with his central performance in this memorably demented chiller. Jones plays a pop singer attempting to record a new album in the surroundings of an apparently haunted country retreat, but he's distracted by the creepy staff (Sheila Keith and Bill Owen), his smarmy, secretly cross-dressing manager, the brutal murders of his ex-wife and trusted colleague, and a burgeoning relationship with groupie Pamela Stephenson. Whilst not as gory as FRIGHTMARE nor as fast-paced or compelling as HOUSE OF WHIPCORD, THE COMEBACK has more than enough touches of eye-popping kinkiness, blood-spattered madness and hallucinatory menace to keep discerning genre fans entertained. Just be warned that Jones's music on the soundtrack isn't his best (it sounds like a particularly wayward Scott Walker solo album), and if you're expecting another nonthreatening pop star movie vehicle, you'd do better to avoid this completely.

True, this is rather more pedestrian than Walker's infamous horror trilogy and this clearly would have benefited from a McGillivray script. This is much more one dimensional and at times rather plodding with the fabulous Sheila Keith unfortunately sidelined. However, this is nothing like as bad as has been made out, has vigorous kills a most eerie atmosphere and decent performances from both Jack Jones and Pamela Stevenson, not to mention a restrained but most effective one from the aforementioned Ms Keith. Keeps you guessing but by the end there is nobody else it could be. Despite comments I have seen elsewhere, both leads do disrobe even if the flesh is carefully shot. Enjoyable.