Zeuge des Wahnsinns

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.

American pop singer Nick Cooper returns to England to resurrect his singing career, after being in a six-years relationship that just ended. His recording manager gets him a quiet old vacation house run by two elderly folks, so he can concentrate on his musical comeback and sweet talk his manager's secretary. However every night he spends there he's plagued by horrifying screaming, and a rotten corpse that looks like his former misses, and it only gets more stranger and unnerving until he finally cracks under the anxiety. Unknowingly to Nick, just after he left to England his ex-wife is brutally murdered and left to rot in his play house.

My first taste of director Pete Walker's exploitation/horror forays almost didn't eventuate. My luck the tape I had of "The Comeback" was that of bad quality, as the sound was hissing and the screen was rolling. After twenty minutes of that distraction, I was about give up and in the bin it would go. However it came through, and I could finally watch it… clearly.

Now the movie itself is a grim, unpleasant little mysterious psycho-shocker presentation with very little in the way of surprises and even jolts, as it goes about things in a conservative manner. Walker's direction is dry, subdued with only small moments of fast outbursts. There was potential within, but the kitsch-like premise can stumble into silliness and become convoluted, while the red herrings aren't particularly useful, but Walker springs up few imaginative images and effectively creepy and inspired set pieces that do rally up some mindless fun. The death scenes are minor, but still they pack a punch due to the fact they are gruesome, sudden and jarring in detail. Even the setting of house comes off eerie, and a Gothic atmospheric tenor is released with good use of foreboding sound FXs. The music score trickles with an understated chilliness, but still has a sting in its tail and agile cinematography feels like it's on a leash as it follows the figure with different angles and framings. The pacing can stall too often, with a stop and go approach. The talky material plays the usual "Am I going insane" trump with clichéd predictability, but that dozy of a climax is one over-the-top revelation that you don't see coming. Suspense has no say and it never draws upon building any, because everything is mostly telegraphed. The characters are an odd bunch and the acting comes off admirably well. A likable Jack Jones is sound enough and the ravishing Pamela Stevenson is satisfyingly good. David Doyle is enjoyable as the recording manager and Shelia Keith's glassy turn is professionally convincing.

Odd, ghastly British horror fable that can't escape its plain and ponderous style.

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.

After having unleashed no less than FOUR genuine cult-shockers upon the British horror market in collaboration with David McGillivray ("House of Whipcord", "Frightmare", "House of Mortal Sin" and "Schizo"), Pete Walker falls back on the writing skills of Murray Smith, with whom he made his very first horror film ("Die Screaming Marianne") as well as a couple of light-headed sex-comedies. Smith's imagination isn't as offensive or twisted as McGillivray's, and thus "The Comeback" is an overall politically correct horror effort. That DOESN'T mean it's bad or unmemorable, mind you! The story's subject matter is fairly original, the character drawings are morbidly eccentric and Walker masterfully alters long scenes of suspense with some of the grossest killings in 70's cinema I've ever seen. Real life singer Jack Jones stars as crooner Nick Cooper, working hard on making a comeback after he divorced his dominating wife Gail. His former record producer still believes in his qualities and even arranged for Nick to live in a large mansion, complete with two loyal – albeit oddly behaving – servants at his disposal. Troubles appear when the rotting corpse of Nick's ex-wife, who has been violently murdered in their former penthouse, begins to haunt him at night along with petrifying sobbing sounds of a small child. It soon begins to look like someone intends to boycott Nick's new career and even hurt him personally. Despite most of the red herrings and sub plots being implausible and far-fetched, the whodunit-element of "The Comeback" keeps you alert and interested up until the satisfying denouement (that I didn't see coming, I may add). The faster the ending approached, I began to fear that Murray Smith would make the same mistake as he did in "Die Screaming Marianne" – loose control and drown in all the deceptive plot twists -, but experienced director Walker neatly fits everything back together during the shlocky finale. He also makes great use of terrifically sinister set pieces, like the creepy penthouse and the totally uncanny rooms in the mansion. The film contains multiple homage references to classic films (although some people tend to call them rip-offs), such as "Psycho" and "Citizen Kane" and I wondrously even loved the corny song called "Traces of a long forgotten tune". The acting is adequate, although Sheila Keith's performance is a cut above the rest as usual. "The Comeback" was one of Pete Walker's last achievements, followed by only two more movies. His work may very well be an acquired taste, but I definitely consider him to be among the most talented horror filmmakers that were active in Europe.

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