Jack's Back

Jack's Back is a 1988 crime thriller horror film[1] written and directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring James Spader and Cynthia Gibb.

Jack's Back
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRowdy Herrington
Produced byCassian Elwes
Tim Moore
Written byRowdy Herrington
StarringJames Spader
Cynthia Gibb
Robert Picardo
Music byDanny Di Paola
CinematographyShelly Johnson
Edited byHarry B. Miller III
Production
company
Cinema Group
Distributed byPalisades Entertainment
Release date
  • May 6, 1988 (1988-05-06)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$492,519 (USA)

Plot

A young doctor in Los Angeles becomes a suspect when a series of Jack the Ripper copycat killings is committed. However, when the doctor himself is murdered, his identical twin brother claims to have seen visions of the true killer.

Cast and characters

Reception

The film got a negative review in The New York Times, which read in part "Jack's Back, which opens today at the Cine 1 and other theaters, is so dull it leaves you plenty of time to marvel at how a plot can be this rickety, how a production can look this shabby, and how the first-time writer and director Rowdy Herrington could borrow a story with so relentless a grip on our imaginations and in no time at all declaw it."[2]

Conversely, both Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up with Siskel declaring that it was a most impressive debut for Rowdy Herrington, as it was for Spader and Gibb.[3] Jack's Back has a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on six critic reviews.[4]

Home video releases

UK-based distributor Slam Dunk Media released the film on DVD in May 2007 in 1.33:1 full frame format. It is the only DVD release to date in that area. It was available on Netflix video streaming service in SD widescreen format.[5] Scream Factory released the film in fall 2015 for the first time on Blu-ray Disc in the US, and also included a DVD in the package knowing that the film had never made it to the format in North America.[6]

Soundtrack and film's title

Originally the director wanted to call the film Red Rain and have the song of the same name by Peter Gabriel playing as the opening credits theme. However the budget didn't allow for licensing the song, and so instead Paul Saax was brought on board to co-write a new theme "Red Harvest". The movie name was changed to Jack's Back as a result.[7]

References
  1. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0095389/
  2. "The Ripper's Return," Caryn James, The New York Times," May 6, 1988
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf89pUUBk78
  4. Rotten Tomatoes page for Jack's Back
  5. Scream Factory Announces a Ton of New Blu-Rays!
  6. Scream Factory; Jack s back
  7. "THE SONGS THAT SCREAM TERROR: TEN GREAT SONGS FROM HORROR FILMS". Daily Grindhouse. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.