Horror,
particular involving the demonic possession subgenre, and blaxploitation remain
two categories in film you would rarely expect to see go together as one unique
entity. And yet with frequent Perry Mason and Gunsmoke director Arthur Marks’ truly one-of-a-kind J.D.’s Revenge, we somehow get both
disparate genres meshed into one still uncategorizable and surprisingly involved
flick. Like most demonic possession
pictures, the film centers around an unassuming college student named Isaac
Hendrix (Glynn Turman in a standout performance) who after a night on the
town with his wife Christella (Joan Pringle) and friends who decide to try out
a hypnosis act for fun and awaken a vengeful evil spirit which gradually begins
to take possession of the young man’s soul.
By
now we’ve seen the demonic possession flick done to death, with The Exorcist still reigning supreme in
that department, but for my money I’ve never seen one that plays out quite like
J.D.’s Revenge. As such, it’s a film with all the fashion,
swagger and sexuality of a blaxploitation picture but never once are the
elements used for anything but horror with many flashbacks to the
aforementioned slaughterhouse that are as dark and disturbing as some of the
demons gracing modern horror media.
Originally entitled The Killing
Floor, it’s a film loaded with increasingly unsettling imagery with a still
unnerving portrait of sexual abuse in a consensual relationship. In most exploitation horror films or
blaxploitation horror, it’s rare to see such keen attention paid to the female
victim, notably with Christella (an astonishing Joan Pringle) who goes the full
distance in her scenes with Isaac (Turman) in some of the most uncomfortable
sexual encounters depicted on film in recent memory.
Rounding
out the proceedings is Reverend Elijah Bliss, played by an unknown Louis
Gossett Jr. at the time, who all but steals the show in every scene he’s
in. One of the film’s strongest assets
is how the characters and their own respective dilemmas are introduced. Where most horror films of this ilk are eager
to get all of their chess pieces on the table, J.D.’s Revenge takes it’s time to introduce the characters at key
plot points, keeping the proceedings consistently surprising and engaging. Separating this even further from the films
which inspired it is the classy cinematography by Harry J. May and frequent
John Landis editor George Folsey Jr.’s precise editing work. Also unique is Robert Prince's original score which ranges between light jazz and atonal glass harp, aiding the film's increasingly uncomfortable atmosphere. Like The
Exorcist, the use of subliminal cutting imprints in the blink of an eye
disturbing images into the mind which play like a strobe flash, leaving behind
a twisted mirage that lingers well after the shot has finished. Also key is the use of color which changes
drastically to indicate when our hero comes in and out of possession, signaling
the danger the surrounding characters are unaware of.
If
there is a complaint to make about this surprising little gem of a movie, it’s
the ending which feels abrupt and too easy.
Something of a shame as everything leading up to the finale had me on
the edge of my seat. Having seen my
share of blaxploitation films over the years, to say I was completely taken
aback by what this one had to offer is an understatement. While this one won’t reinvent the wheel for
most horror fans or seasoned fans of the 70s urban subgenre, I can’t say I’ve
seen a horror/blaxploitation hybrid quite like this one before. Just a couple years prior the blaxploitation
horror scene saw Abby, a naked ripoff
of The Exorcist which was ultimately
suppressed by Warner Brothers.
Curiously, the same company behind that film, American International
Pictures, would helm the far more inventive and original J.D.’s Revenge which could have easily fallen into the realm of
cheap knockoffs and yet remains an indelible horror film with a startlingly
fresh perspective ripe for rediscovery by the horror community.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki