The Comeback

Gail Cooper travels to her ex-husband Nick's London apartment to remove his valuable items. An intruder watches her from the shadows as she handles a phone call from a reporter about the divorce and the six-year hiatus in Nick's career. Before she can leave, a killer wearing a hag mask and a lace shawl ambushes her and hacks her to death with a sickle.

Nick returns from New York to London to work on a new album under Webster Jones. He finds solace with Linda Everett, Webster's secretary, and decides to relocate to a manor in the Surrey countryside. The house is run by Mrs. Doris B. and her gardener Mr. Albert B., setting the stage for unsettling happenings.

Soon after moving in, Nick starts seeing apparitions of his ex-wife Gail around the manor. He is unaware that Gail is dead, so the appearances confuse his grip on reality. The supernatural hints collide with the stresses of recording an album, deepening his distress.

Nick's associate Harry Cunningham disappears, heightening the sense that something dangerous is at play. Around this time, Nick learns that Linda Everett was formerly dating Webster, complicating their relationship. The missing person and the web of past relations deepen Nick's paranoia and unease.

One night Nick investigates strange noises around the estate and uncovers Gail's severed, decomposing head. The shock of the discovery drives him toward a catatonic state and admission to a hospital. The grisly revelation confirms that the apparent hauntings may be tied to real murders.

Nick and Linda finally consummate their growing relationship, seeking solace in each other amid the turmoil. The following day, Linda vanishes, leaving Nick shaken and alone. His physician, Dr. Paulsen, urges him to slow down and revisit the apartment to regroup.

Nick returns to his apartment, urged by Dr. Paulsen to confront the past rather than retreat. He finds the apartment has been thoroughly cleaned with antiseptic and the carpeting replaced, a strange reversal of the scene he left behind. Mrs. B brushes off his concerns, advising him not to worry.

While confronting Nick, Mr. and Mrs. B reveal that the masked old woman was their accomplice and that they killed Gail and Harry out of insanity and revenge. They explain that their daughter, obsessed with Nick, had died by suicide after his marriage to Gail. They intend to kill Nick next, driving him insane to avenge their daughter's death.

Mr. B lunges at Nick in another attack, but Nick dodges; Mrs. B is fatally wounded in the struggle. Mr. B's assault ends as he cradles his wife's body, unable to continue. Webster then arrives with the police to take control of the scene.

Webster arrives and calls the police after witnessing the carnage. Before the police arrive, Nick discovers Linda hidden in the walls with the body of the dead daughter. The shocking discovery confirms that some of Gail's sightings were part truth rather than mere hallucination.

Nick and Linda escape with the police; as the authorities cart away Mr. B, Nick looks up and sees a ghostly Gail waving from a manor window. The final image confirms that some of the phenomena were real, at least in part, and leaves the possibility of the supernatural open.