Hallucinations

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.

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

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.

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.

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.