Jack's Back Year: 1988 Director: Rowdy Herrington Written by: Rowdy Herrington Threat: Serial Killer Weapon of Choice: Scalpel IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
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Rish's Reviews
1988. Though it's possible you're too young to remember, in '88, people were talking a great deal about Jack the Ripper. It had been exactly one hundred years since the Whitechapel murders, and people remarked on how the mystery was never adequately solved. On the day of this writing, McDonalds turns fifty years old. Coincidence?
A century after the original Jack the Ripper killings, a copycat is murdering Los Angeles prostitutes in the same manner. When young doctor James Spader stumbles into the killer's path, he too is murdered, and is framed for the crimes. His troubled twin brother investigates and becomes determined to find out the truth.
I really like James Spader, a Former Celebrity who's had something of a resurgence in "The Practice" and "Boston Legal." He's usually quite good, but he doesn't do a whole lot of note in Jack's Back. Even with twice the screen time. Robert Picardo also appears. I dig him too. Cynthia Gibb, the love interest/best friend character is lovely as hell. Don't think I've ever used that phrase before.
I find it difficult to believe that the director, Rowdy Herrington, was really named Rowdy. Call me skeptical, I don't care. Regardless, he went on to direct the 1989 Patrick Swayze guilty pleasure, Road House.
Gifted with a very intelligent script, it was slowly plotted, and much more of a Mystery than a horror film. The ripper angle seems to be just a gimmick, but it is interesting. Also interesting is that the killer sings My Way by Frank Sinatra/Paul Anka.
It's a bit of a stretch to call this one a horror movie, but not much of one. I have very little to say about this film. It wasn't bad, mind you, but didn't inspire pages of notes like many better (and worse) films have.
What I most got out of the movie was how much twins FASCINATE me. I can't get over the thought that two people were born together and look the same, but might have completely different personalities and characteristics. It made me want to write a story about twins (in fact, I stopped the movie, feeling inspired, and jotted down a few notes that will probably never go anywhere), wondering all sorts of things about what it would be like to have a brother who looks like me (poor bastard) but is nothing like me (lucky stiff). There was a girl at work that was something called a mirror twin. I could've spent months asking her Sci-Fi questions about identical twins. Or making out with her. Both would've been equally stimulating.
I'd Recommend It To: Fans of Eighties cop/detective/murder flicks.
Posted: September 12, 2005

Total Skulls: 8

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?