Jack's Back

Some highlights, but contrived writing, misleading title, dubious casting and TV-budget feel

One hundred years after the infamous Whitechapel murders, a copycat killer manifests in Los Angeles. After five duplicate slayings, the police are (mis)led to believe that the murderer committed suicide. If not, the culprit is still on the loose!

Being that "Jack’s Back” (1988) is about the second coming of Jack the Ripper, I expected a gory, sleazy slasher along the lines of "Edge of Sanity" (1989), but this is more akin to "I, Madman" (1989) mixed with “The Night Stalker” (1972), just inferior to both. It was one of James Spader’s first starring roles and he does a fine job while winsome Cynthia Gibb is another positive on the female front.

Unfortunately, something turned me off. For one, the character played by Rex Ryon comes across as a NFL linebacker as opposed to a young doctor, which is bad casting. Then there’s the jarring twist at the half hour mark and the hackneyed identical twin trope. Why Sure! It doesn’t help that very little of the flick FEELS like Jack the Ripper in the modern day, as was the case with “Edge of Sanity” or the more recent “Maniac” (2012).

This was the writer/director’s first film, which might explain the deficiencies. He intended for it to be titled “Red Rain” with the use of Peter Gabriel’s song for the opening credits, but the miniscule budget wouldn’t allow for the licensing.

While I was surprisingly disappointed, Siskel & Ebert gave it a fairly enthusiastic “thumbs-up.” So, if anything I said trips your trigger, give it a shot. You might like it. As far as I’m concerned, there’s good reason for its obscurity.

The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: C/C-