Word: diana
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...first glance, Diana (Karlene Crockett) seems to be an ordinary young woman. She likes zipping around in her red convertible, blasting her radio, and crawling out from the clutches of her overprotective parents. Almost too coincidently, Diana stumbles across an article in a newspaper describing an unusual young man named Day Whittaker (John Walcutt) who claims that another person lives inside him and speaks through him. To Diana's surprise, the mysterious voice belongs to none other than her late grandfather, Daniel Montross. Quickly, Diana is drawn into a bizarre world in which the past is manifested in the present...
...young man invested with Montross's spirit, tells Diana that her grandfather has come back to reveal the sordid truth about her parents' past. Diana, in her attempt to unravel this cryptic mesage, somewhat predictably falls in love with Day. Her mission, then, becomes not only to pacify her grandfather's restless spirit, but to liberate Day from this psychic bond which prevents him from forming any more conventional ones with Diana...
...instead on determined, consistent understatement. Although Walcutt is cast as the film's romantic hero, he manages to avoid this restrictive stereotype, devoid as he is of the plastic good looks required of the typical male lead. Rather, he combines in his own off-beat demeanor elements of both Diana's venerable grandfather and the young Day's own personality...
...portrayal of Diana, Karlene Crockett is not quite as successful as her co-star, largely because her character is less fully developed than Day's. Given only a two-dimensional character to play, Crockett doesn't explore or experiment. While immediately appealing with her intense, sparkling eyes and her slyly curvaceous smile, she nevertheless lacks the vulnerability that marks Walcutt's performance...
...good deal of Return hinges on the question of identity. Day is stifled and trapped by the spirit of Daniel Montross, a spirit that is sometimes benign and amusing, but more often stridently demanding, driving to fulfill its purpose to return to life. Understandably, Diana is unable to separate the present incarnation from the past life. Although she is attracted to Day, a stronger, more compelling attraction to the voice of her grandfather constantly interferes. This merging of identity, then, is subtly and uncomfortably incestuous...