Jack’s Back (1988)
James Spader, Cynthia Gibb, Jim Haynie, Robert Picardo, Rod Loomis, Rex Ryon, Chris Mulkey, Wendell Wright, John Wesley
Directed by: Rowdy Herrington

I remember seeing this in the video store back in the day, and I was always interested in seeing it. I had a massive crush on James Spader, and it was a Jack the Ripper adjacent film, so I’m really surprised I never actually picked it up. Well, I’ve finally rectified that.

A serial killer in Los Angeles celebrates Jack the Ripper’s 100th birthday by committing similar murders.

I’ve been staring blankly at the screen for a few minutes now, trying to decide if I’m going to include spoilers for the film because there is a rather significant twist about 20 minutes in that I’d hate to spoil for anyone who hasn’t seen the film and wants to. Ok, I’ll try do this with no spoilers.

First and foremost, James Spader, besides being an absolute hunnie, has charisma in spades (I didn’t do that on purpose, I swear!) and does a great job with the material. Cynthia Gibb as a potential love interest is also adorable, even in her giant glasses. The story is twisty-turney but never nonsensical, which can happen in these sorts of films. Seriously, every time I thought I had it all figured out, something else happened. The film seems more interested in the characters rather than the story at times, and in so doing makes us really care about them and what happens to them. The score is nice and moody, as it should be for this type of picture. The only real criticism I have of the film is that the whole thing lacks any sort of motivation. I’m sure they thought having a serial killer “celebrate” the Whitechapel murders would make for a good movie, but seemed to forget to add a why. Why did this person decide to do this? But that’s all the bad I have to say about it. It’s good otherwise. But I really am having trouble finding things to say without spoilers, so let’s make this a “real” 5 second review and end it here.

So, do I recommend it? Sure, if you don’t mind 80’s films. The 80’s literally threw up all over this movie, lol. As for me, I give this a pretty good 7.5/10.

M.

This movie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Plex, and Tubi. Enjoy!