Jack's Back (1987)

 I wasn't intending on really watching this probably ever again, but I had no plans and Jack's Back (1987) was recommended to me on Tubi. It was between this and "Stormswept" (1995), so I thought I'd give this another shot. It has been eleven years and thanks to Shout TV, this was available on Tubi for reevaluation. Spader in dual roles is just fantastic. If the story remains rather similar to a lot of these serial killer thrillers where the cops are under a lot of pressure to find the Jack the Ripper imitator (ultimately the lead doctor of a clinic, played by Rod Loomis) while the co-starring actress and love interest to the main male lead, played by Cynthia Gibb, is not just a bit too close to the not only the film's main threat, but there is a secondary danger (the one who not only chokes Spader Twin Brother #1, but also hangs him by a rope while the main killer watched from behind a curtain) on the streets of LA as well...so this film does feature a little skake-up in the formula. I am such a sucker for shot on location in LA, and Rowdy Herrington does that a lot, so he certainly had me there. I love all the scenes where Rowdy has Spader in the VW and later the convertible driving throughout LA. This sort of occurred to me last evening when I was revisiting the John Badham-directed, Roy Scheider-starring 1983 super duper helicopter actioner, Blue Thunder, when I noticed the Cecil Hotel while our hero had to outwit and outfly Malcolm McDowell...Candy Clark leads the police in a car chase while needing to find a tape with footage regarding the murder of a council woman at a drive-in garbage can all throughout LA. So Rowdy just follows Spader all over LA in pursuit of killers. I still think the ending is frustrating because Loomis seems to have enough gall and ego to actually go the residence of Gibb, when Ryon has been caught and was to be charged for his nasty work...why would Loomis jeopardize himself like that when Ryon was arrested for the murders committed by him? In order for Spader to take him down, that predictable outcome follows that formula of thriller lockstep. I think that is unfortunate, because the film toyed with the formula aplenty. You'd think the benevolent, hard-working Spader twin would be the film hero, not the shoestore manager chain-smoking, repeat-offender twin...the film does that well. You see this beefy, weight-lifting, head-full-of-rocks killer outmuscle Spader Twin #1, complete with the Jack the Ripper imitator manipulating him, telling him "you are doing well, Jack." The particular shoe print (and shoe style) noticed by Spader Twin #2 when needing to crash at Gibb's house is clever since he's a shoestore manager...and the additional "twin mind symbiosis" where the still living Spader sees through the dying eyes of his twin in order to get a full composite of the real main killer is quite the off-kilter plot device and development allowing for eventual heroism. And Picardo, who lives with his ma and isn't happy with Spader Twin #2 waking them up in the middle of the night for a special hypnosis to unlock his dead bro's memory, seems nervous about whether or not this guy can be trusted. It gets a bit convoluted. 3/5

The box art with just Spader on the cover was always curious to me. Why not really give us one of those alluring and elaborate VHS covers that is a little less generic?

Running concurrent with a slate of Jack the Ripper style killings, medical student John Wesford(James Spader), working in a free clinic for the uninsured, is attempting to raise awareness about Los Angeles' poverty plight. The style and subjects chosen are practically identical to the notorious Jack the Ripper, left-handed, with anatomical knowledge and precise with surgical tools. One more victim is left to be targeted, and due to a direct link with the Ripper slayings of the past, the one chosen will be pregnant. Jack Pendler(Rex Ryon), a janitor at the free clinic, shows up at a pregnant hooker's apartment to give her an abortion, when John himself decides he might check in on the same woman. John finds the hooker slain on her bed, covered in blood, and, coincidentally, Jack returns supposedly to bring her antibiotics. Panic-stricken, Jack eventually strangles and hangs John by a rope in the free clinic(after pushing John into the dead victim, getting blood on his clothes, he becomes the prime suspect)leaving the police to believe he committed suicide. So John, a "man of the people" is considered the Ripper killer and the only one who might help clear his name is a twin brother, Rick(also played by Spader). But, before losing it, Jack claims hysterically to John that he did not murder the pregnant woman..could someone else actually be responsible for the other crimes?

I would love to say that JACK'S BACK is more than just your standard Hollywood thriller, but it really isn't..well, maybe except for the bizarre way the filmmakers arrange for the real murderer to be identified(not only of his own brother, but the Ripper killer as well). Except for Spader in dual roles, there really isn't much to distinguish this from all the other thrillers you are accustomed to seeing. Police are searching for a killer with multiple twists identifying who the real culprit is, while one clearly is shown murdering a victim, it's an obvious red herring in regards to the Ripper slayings. You know that, despite having completed the Ripper murders as intended, the psychopath would just have to target "damsel in distress", Chris(Cynthia Gibb, the love interest for John, and later Rick, joining forces with him to find the real killer)so that he can not only be put in a position to be caught in the act, but so that the "wrong man", Rick, could come to the rescue. Robert Picardo is psychiatrist Carlos Battera, a little weird(okay, a lot weird), who the police turn to with help apprehending the Ripper killer..his hypnosis assists Rick in putting a face to the real murderer. This film, as directed by Rowdy Herrington(Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze), does include an interesting development which propels the story forward..twin brother Rick actually sees through his dying brother's eyes as he's being strangled and eventually hung in a dream! I found it amusing how the filmmakers arrange the differences between Rick and John: Rick's hairstyle, leather jacket, air of mystery, aura of danger, a speedy convertible, while John has frumpy clothes, a messy apartment, dedicated work ethic, ease with the public, and a dying VW bug which has seen better days. Oh, and Rick knows karate, so he is able to defend himself, unlike his brother, against the mammoth Jack who outweighs him by a cool thirty pounds. -- July 24, 2010

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