A docile black law student is possessed by a 1940's mobster in mid 1970s New Orleans, Louisiana. The mobster seeks revenge upon the people who killed him and his sister. According to the people who made that documentary entitled "The 50 Worst Films Ever Made", this mixture between horror and blaxploitation is irredeemably awful and hopeless. Luckily their opinions don't mean a damn thing to me and decided to watch it anyway. What I saw was a reasonably cool blaxploitation variant on "The Exorcist" with a strong first half and a sadly disappointing climax. The opening sequences are terrific and take place in the New Orleans of 1942. Loud-mouthed thug JD Walker is wrongfully accused of murdering his pregnant sister and executed on the spot by the real culprit; a jealous local big shot. Thirty years later in present New Orleans, the young law student and part-time taxi driver Ike volunteers to be hypnotized in a sleazy nightclub and becomes possessed with the vengeful spirit of J.D. Ike first suffers from a series of visions, showing in episodes what overcome to the real J.D, and from there onwards he becomes an instrument for extracting vengeance. With a sharp razor ready to cut anyone who crosses his path, Ike goes after Elijah Bliss – the brother who knocked up J.D's sister but nowadays pretends to be a devoted preacher. Okay, so here we have an obscure blaxploitation outsider with a relatively original premise, nifty set-up and a couple of really strong sequences during the first half hour. So this is great stuff, right? Not exactly, no In spite of a satisfying first half and overall very enthusiast acting performances from the ensemble cast, "J.D.'s Revenge" inexplicably turns into a boring and cowardly lame film. Cowardly, because it never fully dares to develop into a horror flick and merely remains a prototypic blaxploitation effort with magnified clichés, like overlong preaches and exaggerated gangster stereotypes. One too many scenes of misogynist violence, too. Warning- Extensive spoilers–<br/><br/>JD's Revenge was a horror thriller released in 1976. Hitting theaters near the wane of African-American themed genre films, it was released by American International Pictures, which had become perhaps the most prolific American studio to produce 'blaxploitation' movies.<br/><br/>Glynn Turman stars as Ike Hendrix, taxi driver and law student in New Orleans, who has a live-in girlfriend, Chrisette (Joan Pringle). A night on the town with another couple brings the group to a stage hypnotism show. During the show, Ike somehow is possessed by the spirit of J.D. Walker (john smith), a local hoodlum active during the 1940s who met a violent end at a meatpacking plant. Shortly, Ike begins to exhibit odd behavior—he buys a vintage used hat, has frequent headaches, but soon his behavior becomes sinister as J.D.'s influence comes to the fore.<br/><br/>Terrorizing cab riders and womanizing are among the sins J.D. commits with Ike's face. Of particular interest to J.D. is the reverend Elija Bliss, who pastors a popular church in town. As played by Gossett, Reverend Bliss likes to use boxing metaphors in his sermons; his brother Cleotis apparently handles the business affairs for the church, but based on his dialogue he is not remotely the believer that Elija seemingly is. Indeed, Cleotis 'reminds' Elija that the church is just a barely-veiled hustle, and sends some ushers to rough up Ike when he takes Elija's lustful daughter home.<br/><br/>Pros New Orleans is an interesting change of pace from the most frequent genre settings of New York (Harlem) or Los Angeles. Bourbon Street and other locales are showcased. The film handles Ike's internal struggle fairly well—mild mannered and genial normally, smug and swaggering as J.D. By the film's climax the possessed Ike has permed his hair and bought a garish suit to complete his 'old-school' look. The principal and supporting actors all play it straight, which helps avoid a campy feel to what is already a high-concept story. Some unintentional humor is wrought from a doctor who suggests to stressed-out Ike that he smoke some marijuana to calm down. The same can be said for when the movie's main couples celebrate an anniversary at a topless nightclub. Slightly less humorous is Ike's pal coming up with a rather reaching justification for Ike's slapping around Chrisette while possessed.<br/><br/>Cons The climax of the film sets up a revelation that clever viewers may likely have figured out beforehand. The epilogue is fairly cut and dry despite the fantastic series of events that just took place. Despite some mirror-image appearances, there is no verbal confrontation between Ike and J.D., which could have been interesting—instead, Ike just totally blacks out whenever J.D. takes over. There are also several subplots that the movie seems to ignore: Shortly after the possession takes place, Ike visits a pimp to place a numbers bet (hinting at a possible criminal past for Ike) but this is soon forgotten; Reverend Bliss' past suggests that he was not only a former boxer but that he was involved in some sort of racketeerism, and his current career as a pastor may not be completely on the up-and-up. Ike assaults a man after sleeping with his wife; despite Ike being identified as a suspect, this is forgotten by film's end. A possessed Ike sexually assaults Chrisette in an overlong sequence; juxtaposed with the rather pat resolution at the end, it makes her look gleefully forgiving when she should not be—on that note, most of the women in the film are murder victims, harshly abused or sexually loose.
Piptam replied
364 weeks ago