The Comeback

After the rather unconvincing “Schizo” (1976), Pete Walker makes another attempt at thought-provoking horror. Although the characters, cinematography, and art direction recall his finest works (“Frightmare”, 1974; “House of Mortal Sin“, 1976), this time the result is highly disappointing.

Perhaps the breakup of his long association with screenwriter David McGillivray was hard on him, or else Walker’s sociocultural critique had simply run out of likely targets (the film absurdly attacks a pop singer whose melodic music might corrupt innocent souls), but the fact remains that beyond a few decent splatter scenes – the first murder – and a couple of bitter reflections on the world of showbiz, the rather boring plot fails to engage.

Furthermore, Murray Smith’s screenplay is chock-full of contrived narrative workarounds coupled with phony gimmicks whose only purpose seems to be turning everyone into a potential suspect.

Sub-par cast: Jack Jones is a drab leading man, while Sheila Keith’s “mentally unbalanced” performance seems like a tired rehash this time.