THE COMEBACK (1978) – The Dungeon Review!

After the ferociously fun Frightmare and House of Whipcord I was anxious to check out another flick from British director Pete Walker. The Comeback stars Jack Jones, who I must admit, I never heard of before reading his bio on IMDB yesterday. Apparently Jones is a two-time Grammy winner with Billboard top 20 hits including the Love Boat theme. Jones in fact plays a singer in the film and you even get to hear him belt one out. On the plus side, for a singer turned actor he doesn’t embarrass himself and actually pulls off a fairly decent performance. Although, once again, it is Walker regular Sheila Keith who really steals the show. That woman is just wonderfully wacky! She has a great knack of making the most inane statement seem menacing.

Nick Cooper has returned to the UK six years after his successful musical career was sidetracked after meeting Gayle. After the two get hitched Gayle expresses a hankering to go back home to the USA. And what Gayle wants, Gayle gets. But things fizzle for the couple and Nick’s former agent Webster Jones is more than happy to welcome him back. Webster sets Nick up in a quiet country estate being tended to by an elderly couple while the owners are away. But things are anything but relaxing for Nick when he hears voices and sees corpses in the night that no one else witnesses.

The Comeback actually opens with Gayle’s death. As Nick’s plane is landing in the UK, Gayle has returned to their old apartment for one last look around. She is suddenly attacked by someone in a mask and is left for dead on the staircase. I figure it’s okay to mention this as it literally happens in the first few minutes of the film. Gayle’s corpse provides most of the horror for the film. There are really only two other scenes of violence to speak of, so this isn’t one to visit for a body count. The estate is a huge rambling place and the elderly couple tending to the place couldn’t be weirder! A pretty fun setup that sadly doesn’t get maintained throughout. The film is talky and there are a lot of long scenes that seem to have little point and don’t do a thing to advance the plot. This definitely hurts the overall feel of the film and the pacing mid-way felt pretty logie. As I mentioned, I rented this one based on Pete Walker’s prior efforts and I found this one disappointing in comparison. What can I say? When I rent an Ingmar Bergman film I expect to get a slow-paced, psychological emotionally draining film and when I rent a Pete Walker flick I expect to get some ridiculous, over the top exploitative fun!

Much of The Comeback’s livelier moments are provided by Nick’s night terrors. These scenes are often humorous rather than scary however. Nick begins experiencing strangeness on night one which is not eased by the downright bizarre behaviour of the elderly couple Mr and Mrs. B. Practically everything that comes out of Mrs. B’s mouth is peculiar as hell and Mr. B rarely speaks at all and is seen staring and chatting with trees on the estates property. Without a doubt, the couple played by Bill Owen and Sheila Keith provided the films most enjoyable moments for me. The film also features David Doyle, who plays Nick’s mildly sleazy agent Webster Jones. Doyle is probably best known for playing Bosley on Charlie’s Angels and he does okay here. Webster’s secretary Linda Everett refers to herself as an aging groupie and is the object of Nick’s affection. It doesn’t take long for the two to have sex, which we don’t really see. There is no nudity in the film with the exception of a brief shot of a bare ass. In any case, Pamela Stephenson who plays Linda is quite likable in the role. Finally we have Gayle played by Holly Palance, daughter of Jack Palance. She left a definite impression on me as the nanny in The Omen and although she is alive only briefly the woman does leave her mark.

The Comeback doesn’t have much in the way of scares, suspense, violence or sex and is too slow-paced through the middle but regardless of all this, it definitely has its memorable moments. The films ambitious opening scene sucked me in, and the Mr. and Mrs. B characters gave me some hearty guffaws. The out of left field ending, which we are given little, if any clues about, is actually quite satisfying. There was enough entertainment here to garner this one a pass only. Not Recommended.

Dungeon Rating: 2.5/5

Directed By: Pete Walker

Starring: Jack Jones, Pamela Stephenson, David Doyle, Bill Owen, Sheila Keith, Holly Palance, Peter Turner