Why So Blu?

Jack’s Back (Blu-ray Review)

He was never caught… On January 16, 2016, Scream Factory presents a tale of Jack the Ripper with Jack’s Back on Blu-ray + DVD combo pack, for the first time on either format. The taut mystery-thriller stars James Spader (The Blacklist, The Avengers: Age of Ultron) in one of his most thrilling early roles, alongside Cynthia Gibb (Death Warrant, Youngblood), with direction by Rowdy Herrington (Road House).Jack’s Back comes complete with new bonus features including interviews with Rowdy Herrington, Cynthia Gibb, producer Tim Moore and director of photography Shelly Johnson.

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Film 

One hundred years ago, Jack the Ripper slashed his way through London’s red light district. Now, a modern-day maniac is honoring the event by mutilating L.A.’s ladies of the evening. Has Jack the Ripper been reborn? The police are stumped and the prostitutes of L.A. are scared. The only person with a chance of solving the murders has a problem of his own – he’s the LAPD’s number one suspect.

Jack’s Back is one of those movies that takes me back to my old video store days.  I’d never seen the movie, but I could tell you exactly what the box looked like.  And I never rented this one because, quite frankly, it didn’t look all too interesting.  The cover (Used for this release as well) is just a picture of James Spader with a little tag line blurb on it and “JACK’S BACK” in big print.  What the heck is your movie?  Sitting in the horror section at a video store, where making a badass poster or cover for your movie was how things were done, this was just so uninspired and led me to not even pick it up and read the back of the box.  Here’s a picture of an attractive man…and…I guess its scary.  Not a good sell.

Finally seeing the film now, its not all that scary, but its a decent little thriller.  Not unlike anything you haven’t seen already, but this one does an okay job with things.  Its a murder story in a dingy underbelly side of Los Angeles.  Its a movie that wants to be a guessing game, but doesn’t really let the audience play along too much as the characters always seem to know more than the audience or make decisions we can’t assume they’d make based on our following along of them.  This is what happens when the protagonist in the film also is someone the movie wants you to never stop thinking may be the prime suspect and thus has a narrative that doesn’t have us trusting that we’re seeing every moment with them.

That protagonist is James Spader.  Jack’s Back marks his debut as a leading man.  Before this he’d been more of a supporting player in the Brat Pack’er movies of the 1980s.  With this film, we see right off the bat, the kind of interesting choices and challenging characters he’d be known to put his mark on.  His role in this one is that of a dual one as he plays identical twins.  And my, are they ever so different, and not just in their appearance.  Spader fully encompasses and realizes both character, crafty deep well rounded individuals.  And one of them doesn’t even make it past the first act.  Spader is a true talent, showcasing it in any environment, from high class drama, to B-level horror thriller.  Its nifty to see him so young and so seasoned at a young age.

Rowdy Herrington is most known for Roadhouse, then probably Striking Distance, but not much for his debut here.  He claims Spader got him the job on Roadhouse by improvising the “Wedding present” line in the film.  Here, I can’t say there’s stuff to go “wow, what potential”.  The film is overly foggy and smokey.  Fight scenes are lacking and feel overly cautious and somewhat clumsy in their execution (I got some laughs from a few of them).  However, what you’re not expecting is that Herrington can handle dramatics quite well.  Either that, or James Spader just makes people that good.

Jack’s Back is an ok little thriller that is kind of proto to what would be a bit of an adult film status quo in the 1990s.  Its a star-driven vehicle that features a terrific early performance from James Spader with a neat little concept.  Its also got some terrifically super 80s music in the sound track.  I laughed once as I had the subtitles on and it just read “–80s Music–“.  Its a decent watch if you’re a follower of James Spader or are looking for a vintage thriller that doesn’t make you think all too hard.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail:  Jack’s Back features a brand new high definition transfer from the original negative.  It looks pretty nice, but I’m sure this movie’s production has hampered and pretty kind of look it may ever have.  The film is inherently foggy and smokey by design.  Detail on it is solid.  The overall image is a little soft.  Bottom line, its decent, but its murkiness is mainly in its design.

Depth:  Decent work here.  Background imagery is as clear as focus allows.  Movement is cinematic and minimal blur present.

Black Levels:  Blacks are solid and consistent.  Minimal detail and no real serious crushing problems witnessed.

Color Reproduction:  The film has a lifelike and somewhat dingy look to it.  Colors looks solid enough, with red the only one able to make a mark for itself with blood in scenes.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural and consistent.  Close-ups provide the real look at detail on facial features.

Noise/Artifacts:  There are light specs/dirt, some grain and a hint of compression.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English

Dynamics:  This is a solid track, with the music sounding really nice in the mix.  The songs in tow (Hilariously dubbed by one subtitle “–80s Music–“) are full and loose sounding.  Foley effects and the like come across decently.  Most of the music, effects and dialogue all sound free of one another and loosely balanced right in the mix.

Low Frequency Extension:  N/A

Surround Sound Presentation:  N/A

Dialogue Reproduction:  Dialogue is clear and a hair low in the mix.  Some of it may be soft spoken actors, too.

Extras 

Jack’s Back comes with a DVD copy of the film.

Audio Commentary

• With Writer/Director Rowdy Herrington

Theatrical Trailer (HD, :57)

The Making Of Jack’s Back (HD, 23:51) – Rowdy Herrington, Tim Moore, Shelley Johnson and Cynthia Gibb recall the making of the film.  There are some good story/script details and technical things gone over in the film. Of course, they talk about working with James Spader on the film and what a terrific performance they thought he gave.

Summary 

Jack’s Back on home video with this solid Blu-ray release from Scream Factory.  Its a film that mostly is interesting for seeing James Spader in his first leading role.  Trivia will lend you to finding that its also the first film from the director of Roadhouse.  Presentation on the film is solid with few issues.  Bonus materials are slim, but very effective.  At a good price, its a solid pickup for collectors and those interested.