Review by Roger Carpenter
Though there were a couple of films in 1970, the blaxploitation subgenre really hit its stride in 1971 with the release of two seminal films: Sweet Sweetback’s Badassssss Song and Shaft. The next few years saw a steady increase in these types of films but by 1976 there was a marked decrease in Blaxploitation films and the subgenre was all but dead by 1979.
One of the interesting things that came out of this subgenre was an even smaller subset of blaxploitation films which also fell within the horror genre. Some of these are minor classics like Blacula, its sequel Scream, Blacula, Scream, and the Exorcist takeoff, Abby. Some are known more because of how bad they are, such as Blackenstein. And then you have 1976’s J.D.’s Revenge which, if not a minor classic, may be best described as an overlooked gem.
Arthur Marks, director of Linda Lovelace for President as well as several other blaxploitation flicks (Detroit 9000, Bucktown, Friday Foster), directed J.D.’s Revenge from a script by first-time screenwriter Jaison Starkes. The film stars Glynn Turman, who was fresh off of a successful campaign with 1975’s Cooley High, as well as Louis Gossett, Jr., with a major supporting role by Joan Pringle.
Turman stars as Isaac, a hard-working cab driver taking night classes at the local law school. His live-in girlfriend, Christella (Pringle) is a good woman, devoted to her man and supportive of his studies. But Christella worries that Isaac works too hard and convinces him to go out on the town with another couple, just for a break. After dinner at a strip club the foursome find their way into a hypnotist’s act, with Isaac getting volunteered to be hypnotized. While the hypnotism works, it also unfortunately leaves Isaac’s mind open to more evil forces, like J.D. Walker (David McKnight), a small-time thug during WWII who was shot and killed for murdering his own sister. But all is not what it seems and J.D., while no saint, was no murderer. And his spirit is out for revenge. As the demonic J.D. works to take possession of Isaac, strange things begin to occur. Isaac starts dressing like a 1940’s gangster and turns foul-mouthed and violent, saving his most passionate abuses for Christella, who is mystified at the change in the man she loves.
Before long the police become involved, searching for the mysterious man who seems to have been resurrected from the grave. Meanwhile, the Reverend Elija Bliss (Gossett, Jr.) has managed to put the pieces together and believes he is the man to confront the evil spirit which possesses Isaac. Will the police arrest an innocent man because they don’t understand the exact nature of the problem? Will Reverend Bliss be able to stop the demon before he does some real harm? Will either Isaac or Christella survive the possession? And will J.D. finally get his revenge?
J.D.’s Revenge is one of those films—we all have a list—that I’d always heard of, always wanted to see, but just never got around to it. Now, with Arrow Video USA’s special edition release, I can mark this film off my list—and I’m glad I finally got around to seeing it. The film is more a thriller than a horror film. There isn’t any overt supernatural horror like demons with horns or puke-inducing possessions. In fact, the possession is quite low-key, with director Marks opting to utilize clothing changes, a nice little nervous tic J.D. always had, and Turman’s excellent acting to move between normalcy and possession. Turman is convincing both as the upstanding Isaac as well as the mean-spirited J.D. Louis Gossett, Jr. is also excellent as the hellfire-and-brimstone preacher who uses a boxing shtick during his sermons to stoke the fires of passion in his congregation. He bobs and weaves, punching and jabbing through his sermons like a man with his soul on fire…which isn’t far from the truth.
The film is a solid little yarn. The acting is above average and the story is engaging. Marks does a great job weaving sepia-colored flashbacks into the story which keeps the audience informed about major characters’ pasts and gives viewers more information than Isaac and Christella have. This increases the tension as we root for the good guys to solve the mystery before it’s too late. There are a few blunders that betray the film’s low budget like how J.D. displays his bloody hand and the razor blade in his hand for all to see, as if to prove to the audience why the police would suspect him as his sister’s killer. Yes, we get it, even though we don’t believe anyone is really stupid enough to pick up the murder weapon and smear themselves with blood from the victim. But, by and large, these blunders are few and far between and relatively painless thus easily overlooked.
J.D.’s Revenge may not be a Shaft or a Foxy Brown, but it’s a fun little flick that deserves to be rediscovered by a wider audience. And now that Arrow has released a special edition, hopefully that will be the case. The film is presented in a new 2K restoration from the original film elements in both standard DVD and Blu-Ray and comes loaded with special features.
These features include “The Killing Floor,” a brand new, 45-minute retrospective documentary about the film which includes director Marks, writer Starkes, actor Turman, and editor George Foley, Jr. Other features include an 18-minute audio interview with actor David McKnight, a still gallery, the theatrical trailer, some radio spots, and five trailers for other films directed by Marks. Finally, the first pressing also comes with a collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies. This one is definitely worth catching, so give it a try. You can purchase the film at Amazon or directly from Arrow Video at http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/category/usa/.
