Synopsis
Millions loved him, could someone hate him enough to kill and kill again?
A singer holes up at a sinister estate to write new songs for his act. His ex-wife is brutally murdered, and the killer may be stalking him next.
1978 Directed by Pete Walker
A singer holes up at a sinister estate to write new songs for his act. His ex-wife is brutally murdered, and the killer may be stalking him next.
The Day the Screaming Stopped, Los crímenes del ático, Zeuge des Wahnsinns, Hallucinations, Возвращение, 复出, Chi vive in quella casa?
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I’m a big fan of Pete Walker so I do love this movie, even if it’s in the lower part of my Walker Top 5. There’s some great atmosphere and I would literally kill for the estate this mostly takes place in. Like seriously, if anybody has a connection, I’m willing to kill to own that place.
Sheila Keith is just amazing in every one of Pete’s movies although this is probably my 3rd favorite performance of hers after House of Whipcord and Frightmare. Jack Jones is a good looking guy, but all those shirtless scenes would work a whole lot better if he didn’t have that excessive chest lawn and all that shoulder hair. Attention men: those things are not attractive and if you have them, fix them. You’re welcome.
Pete Walker’s at it again, casting a pop music personality in one of his films*, much like Milton Subotsky did with some of his Amicus movies. This time, a prominent role is given to crooner Jack Jones who, here, resembles Robert Redford with a dash of Martin Jarvis. Actually, Walker does his usual neat trick of assembling an interesting cast. Not starry, necessarily, save for the main man but populated with noteworthy performers, such as Holly Palance, who gets to do more than yell, “It’s all for you, Damien!”. And David Doyle – taking a break from corralling various members of Charlie’s Angels – gets a sizeable part. And – hooray! – Walker repertory player Sheila Keith gets to bust…
💀Daily Horror Hunt #17 – November Horror 2019💀
14. Watch a movie that is not exactly a giallo film but has giallo themes.
Yeah, you could say the giallo themes run heavy in this Pete Walker film. A handful of granny-masked murders are the backdrop for this mystery-laden story about a pop singer looking to regain his lost popularity. It's a little too slow paced at times, could use a few more kills, but it scratches my giallo itch. The few kills we do get are pretty great; Lots of bloody slashes, confusing camera cuts, and horrible deathly screams, all ending in a flash! They're intense. It also has a completely ridiculous ending that is pretty much impossible to guess.…
THE COMEBACK where have you been all my life? Hiding away singing your joyous songs with the lovechild of Leatherface and Norman Bates and a creepy mansion full of bloodshed by the looks!
What a wonderful surprise this film was. Not only do we get a fun story, we get some lovely work by Pete Walker and a vibrant cast while also some nicely gruesome kills sit next to a lively mystery.
I had a blast with this one. It flew by and was an extremely easy watch. It may not offer many new things for the genre in 1978 but it does do its basics right and keeps it an enjoyable experience throughout.
Hooptober Film 21 - Anniversary - 40 years - 1978
AKA Encore
For a while I have had the inclination to check out the work of director Pete Walker after seeing The House of Long Shadows last year. Starting off with this curious mystery, horror, slasher, Giallo, psychological thriller.
Successful singer Nick Cooper (Jack Jones) arrives in the UK after divorce, not having cut an album in 6 years. His manager Webster (David 'Bosley' Doyle) rents him a creepy old house (with even creepier housekeepers Sheila Keith and Bill 'Compo' Owen) in the country to help him get the creative juices flowing. Meanwhile at his London apartment his ex wife Gail (Holly Palance) let's herself in...bad move...there's a horrible crone with a sickle who hacks her up. Yikes! Nick is…
After being on hiatus for 6 years, a famous singer tries to make The Comeback. But before he can get back to business, he must first get past the frightening noises and images that are haunting him at night, along with the mysterious killer he's not aware of.
Good pacing and good atmosphere. The killer reveal is great and so is the final kill.
"They were going to drive you mad"
I've never watched a Pete Walker film but Arrow has a good amount of his stuff up to check out so here we go. It's my first run in with the guy and I'm on the fence.
Fuck, it felt like I had an hour left no matter what minute mark it was at when I checked. The Comeback doesn't really know where to lean. Gialli-esque set ups, slasher tendencies, slow creeping supernatural bumps in the night but a pace that hits a crippling reach for the finish line, making all its good qualities take a back seat. No way to sugarcoat it... the shits boring other than a few select things it…
Does this even count as horror? This was more like an after school special about divorce.
H🎃RR🎃RWEEN 2🎃18
Amazon Prime* – Watchlist
57/100
I couldn't take this seriously as I grew up on Compo going down hills in bath tubs, yet here he is playing a creepy old dude.
There's very little that actually happens in this, it feels like a melodrama for the most part and then randomly gets very Italian horror.
I still enjoyed it though, it reminded me a little of Deep Red, just with far less actually happening.
A fairly creepy, slow burn slasher film with a ghostly element. This British gem from the 70s features some decent gore and kills. The creepy penthouse setting gave the film a very atmospheric and dank vibe throughout. The cast lead by Jack Jones all did well in their roles. Nothing felt forced in The Comeback as the story actually made sense and the various subplots fit well into the main story.
6.5 out of 10
"Nevermind symbolic, sunshine. It was fucking there!"
Nick, a nearly washed out musician who'd just went through a pretty messy divorce, stays at a giant mansion to work on a new album at the behest of his manager. The caretakers are an overly attentive older couple and along the way he meets a new gal, Linda.
The very first scene of this movie is of a masked shrieking person murdering Nick's ex-wife and leaving her to decay in their penthouse. His nights at the manison are filled with nightmares, he's sure they're real but everyone tries to convince him otherwise, but alas.. he was right, sorta?
This meanders a lot with a couple of musical interludes, but managed to keep…
"A man who had a picnic on the moon... the traces of a long-forgotten tune!" The song Jack Jones is seen recording in Pete Walker's 1978 proto-slasher The Comeback is hilarious nonsense, and so, in many ways, is the film - but it's very charming nonsense, which puts this week's episode of Pop Screen ahead of the other things I've subjected Robyn to on this podcast. It's lesser Walker, but it still has the satirical zip that distinguishes his work from Brit-exploitation contemporaries, as well as a deeply fascinating supporting cast including Pamela Stephenson, Peter Turner, Sheila Keith, This Is Spinal Tap's June Chadwick and... Bill Owen?! Compo meets Psycho!
Stray observations:
- Was it possible for a singer in…