J.D.'s Revenge (1976)

Accomplished, but unspectacular blaxploitation horror with a tremendously ripe lead performance by Glynn Turman in presenting two very different (from placid to extreme) personalities. He plays a genuinely high flying and collected law student Isaac that during a hypnosis session experiences shocking visions and begins to undergo a personality change of a brutally hot-headed and jive-talking 1940's street hustler J.D. Walker. Through flashbacks that erupted in Isacc's mind we learn that J.D was wrongly accused of murder and then killed. Now he's seeking revenge beyond the grave and he's using Isaac to do so.Director Arthur Macks doesn't generate anything particularly frightening with the flipped-out supernatural current, but works well with the gritty and murky air to cement tough groundwork. There is a ruthlessly razor-sharp vibe throughout, even though the make-up is cheaply done, it's Turman's tour-de-force performance that sells it. Despite a well-rounded story, there are moments in the script that seem to linger and succumb to repetitiveness with a conclusion that feels all too convenient. Robert Prince's unhinged music amusingly experiments with psychedelic sounds from foreboding electronic stings to funky cues. The rest of the performances are efficiently fair with Louis Gossett Jr. and Joan Pringle.

"J.D.'s Revenge" is a simply there possession film without a whole lot going for it either way.**SPOILERS**In the middle of New Orleans, Ike, (Glynn Turman) and his girlfriend Christella, (Joan Pringle) try not to let his celebrity status affect their fun. Hitting a popular nightclub, he goes on stage for a hypnotism act and falls under, emerging from the experience seeing strange visions of the murder of an unknown woman in an animal slaughterhouse. Concerned nothing is wrong, he continues on with his life until he runs into Reverend Elija Bliss, (Lou Gossett) and he learns that the trouble has been caused by being possessed by a gangster who had a run-in with him years ago, and is now seeking revenge for being wrongly executed back then. Switching between personalities as he carries on his mission, they try to stop him before he is able to complete his blood-lust through the possession.The Good News: There wasn't a whole lot to this one that really worked. One of the best ones is that it changes the rules around the whole possession angle. That this one has the male get possessed leads to some really nice moments, as the changes are going to stick out much easier compared to others, which is what is needed to sell the change. That also gives the later half of the film, with the real revenge getting carried through in real gang-land traditions is a lot of fun. From the confrontation in the Church to the fight in the meat factory, it has some really good stuff to it, action-packed while leaving closely enough to the horror elements through the changes which give it some extra pull. The different ways that the film presents the change, from outright changes to the flashing between the two with the same characteristics is rather nice and give the film a little more to it. The last big plus is the really inventive manner of the possession, here done through the rather harmless hypnotism scene. It comes with a great way of doing so that is completely innocent and really rather new. These here are the film's good points.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot to this one at all. The fact that the film doesn't have much action at all, either normal action or horror action, is a pretty big effect on the film. It makes for some really dull moments as there's nothing much happening during that state. It happens during most of the movie, which is the worst part of all of this. It's really just dull for an incredibly long time of the film, and that's something which can really hurt the film. What also ruins this is that the tactics used to indicate that the possession has occurred don't have all that horrific a tag attached to them. Merely wearing a different style of clothes or hanging out with different sets of people are warning signs something's wrong, not something that is used to generate scares from. It's fine to have them as supplanted tools for the actual possession, otherwise this one shouldn't be based solely on such non-frightening motives for such a scary motive. The last flaw is that there's way too many scenes in the animal slaughterhouse. It's unnecessary, is morally disturbing to keep showing that scene over and over again, and does nothing for the film. That alone is one of the major things holding the film down, and all with the other areas are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: While not entirely without flaws, the good parts to this one are really just kinda there anyway and overall it's just mediocre. If there's something appealing about the genre or the film or just plain curious, then give this one a shot, otherwise it's best to proceed with caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, several sex scenes, a rape scene and animal slaughter

In their excellent book "The Golden Turkey Awards" the Medved brothers note that the good news was that Hollywood discovered the market for movies made for black audiences, the bad news was that most were crude, artless-and vulgar, like this one. It starts OK with an interesting premise and some interesting shots, such as the young law student seeing the late J.D.'s face in the mirror of his cab, but it soon degenerates into another cheap sex and sadism Garde Z exploitation movie. 3 of the 4 sex scenes are rapes, in the last half of the movie the dialogue (?) consists of the 2 best known obscenities. I was embarrassed to watch this one, and I watched all by myself late at night-with the curtains drawn! Got the tape from a co-worker with whom I had been discussing the Golden Turkies and bad movies. Lent him a tape of "Plan 9 from Outer Space", he said he howled over that, he got the best of that deal.

Found half-hidden in the back of my local video store, the cheesy packaging made it look like a tongue in cheek blaxploitation horror movie good for a few laughs. But the packaging misled, this is a surprisingly serious and effective supernatural revenge thriller. Nice guy cabbie/law student Ike (Glynn Turman - 'Cooley High') becomes possessed by nasty Forties pimp J.D. Walker (David McKnight). Ike/J.D. is intent on avenging the murder of his sister. Local Preacher Reverend Bliss (b-grade favourite Lou Gossett Jr.) is somehow involved. Not a great movie, but a good one, and worth watching for Turman's excellent double turn if nothing else. This movie deserves to be better known.