The Comeback, Composing and Decomposing

However lovely one may be in life, death changes a lot. As the heart ceases beating, decomposing moves in. Holly Palance is a lovely actress and her hanging death in "The Omen" still gives us the shivers. In 1978's "The Comeback" she'll appear as a glamorous and sultry woman...at least for a few minutes. Then as she is chopped up into pieces, her beauty flees...the flies come...the maggots arrive...decomposition commences...and presumably her friends bolt. When the sweet aroma of Chanel Number 5 gives way to the stench of rotting meat, men may not come around as often.

Gail (Palance) arrives at her penthouse apartment in London in order to claim her belongings. She and her hubby Nick (Jack Jones) have divorced. Though heartbroken, she still looks stunning...until a fiend with a sickle chops her up in most gory fashion. She'll go undiscovered in the penthouse and decomposition will begin immediately. Nick on the other hand, now that he is divorced, decides to revive his singing career. After a six year absence, his agent Webster (David Doyle) is eager for Nick to cut another album. Webster finds a secluded country estate where Nick can work without being disturbed.

Lucky Nick! The beautiful blonde Linda (Pamela Stephenson) is assigned to him as an assistant. The two will have a lot of sexual intercourse together...in bed...in her car...or wherever they damn please. Uh oh...Nick hears moans, groans, and screams in the middle of the night. No one else does. The caretakers (Bill Owen and Sheila Keith) of the estate are weird but swear they don't hear noises. Oh yes...Webster...well...you'll see. As the noises continue, Nick also sees a rotting corpse of a woman with maggots coming out of her mouth. He doesn't realize this is Gail as he believes his ex-wife is still alive. As Nick's sanity is questioned, and as Gail continues to decompose, and as Nick tries to compose, the nubile Linda may be in horrific peril.

Is Gail's ghost trying to warn Nick about danger, or upset he is having carnal relations with Linda without the benefit of clergy? Could Nick really be insane...and did he kill Gail?  Is Linda headed for a similar fate as Gail suffered? Directed by Pete Walker, this is a well acted mystery/thriller with some very gory plot devices. For some pure 1970s fun, and maybe Pamela Stephenson's best film, enjoy "The Comeback."