Terror Tuesday Report: JD's Revenge

Greetings fellow ravenous horror fans. We've reached that seminal point in the workweek; the greatest of all previously-overlooked days. It's once again time to sink our teeth into the Terror Tuesday Report. Every week I attend the screening of a classic, or classically awful, horror film at the revered Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin surrounded by a cadre of like-minded horror freaks. The master of ceremonies is Zack Carlson who, in much the same fashion as the late-night horror hosts that thrived in the glory days of local television, muses hilariously about the quality or lacking of the films. For my part, I will provide a review of the film showcased as well as gage the audience reaction to the film; an integral component of these magical evenings. Tonight's film is a blaxploitation horror flick entitled; JD's Revenge.


The Film

I absolutely love blaxploitation! I have a feeling over the next three weeks I will be writing up quite a few of them; not at all a daunting task. JD's Revenge represents my favorite conglomeration of greatness as it exists in the exponentially amazing subgenre of blaxploitation horror. The story revolves around Ike, a young lawyer living in New Orleans. While participating in a live demonstration of hypnotism, Ike is inadvertently possessed by the spirit of a gangster from the 1940's who was murdered along with his sister. Slowly this respectable young man begins to experience a change in attitude and demeanor. He gets more aggressive, more prone to violence, and finds himself inexplicably drawn toward an old hat and razor blade. Has JD Walker returned from the grave? Will his enemies survive his quest for vengeance? Is that Lou Gossett, Jr.?

It's not often that I get to say this, but JD's Revenge is an honest-to-God excellent film. I have a tendency wax meritorious about all manner of questionable film, but this one is legitimately praiseworthy. I don't mean to sound surprised, but blaxploitation is a genre noted more for outlandish stereotypes than producing films of remarkable quality. Not to say this genre is without worth, it did allow black filmmakers to operate outside the white-owned studio system and launched the careers of several artists, but the truth is that many of the films were pandering, lackluster experiments in pure exploitation. JD's Revenge utilizes incredibly artistic means to tell a story that is loaded with interesting social commentary.

The actor, who plays Ike, Glynn Turman, is phenomenal. Horrorphiles might remember him as the science teacher in whom Billy confides the existence of the Mogwai in Gremlins. Again, not to sound shocked that an actor in a film would be competent in the art of acting, but it's not something typical of blaxploitation. Turman embodies both Ike and JD with a masterful ease. He does a wonderful job of making Ike so likable that as he slowly builds toward the alter ego, it is disturbing but captivating. Further atypical of the genre, Turman plays Ike with great restraint and incredible subtlety. But when he is being controlled by the reprehensible JD, his performance ventures into familiar stereotype. But in that transition, in that caricature depiction of JD, lies a powerful commentary.

The roots of blaxploitation are anchored in rebellion. The themes and antiheroes echo a tumultuous racial climate in America in the 1970's and are geared toward the idea of challenging the establishment; violently at times. JD's Revenge makes a more subtle statement about racial inequality in a sort of Jekyll and Hyde format. When Turman is Ike, he is the antithesis of stereotype. He is a charming, intelligent, hard-working young man who never sets one toe out of line. But as the evil spirit possesses him, he is forced against his will to become a stereotype. Basically the film, either purposefully or in a brilliant accident, is defying the idea that all African-American film characters must conform to the expectations of audiences and perpetuate stereotypes. There are moments throughout the film that actually support this distinction; the scene where the doctor tells him to smoke weed or when his best friend tries to convince him that using violence against women is necessary to keep them in line. Both of these sentiments support ugly generalizations for African-Americans and it is clear that Ike is not comfortable with either prescription.

I desperately want to see this film remade. The slow, methodical decent into the darkness of JD built a level of suspense worthy of Hitchcock. The actual story of JD's murder was very well told and effectively established his thirst for vengeance. I like how he stalked his betrayers in his new body and it was interesting to see where they had ended up thirty years later. Lou Gossett, Jr. is fantastic as the gangster-turned-evangelical-preacher who, along with his brother, is the target of JD's rage. And while the moments where he is inhabited by JD provide the familiar guffaws, they are used sparingly to reinforce the theme.

The Reaction

This was a very strange evening. Most of the regulars were apparently seduced by the lure of that damned LOST and its season premiere; that's a reality show about b-movie stars right? The place resembled a tomb up until around ten minutes before the film started. The most jarring difference was that Mr. Zack Carlson was not in attendance to introduce the film. It was interesting because for the first few minutes of the film, it was as if the crowd was unsure how to react to it. Eventually the audience got more invested in the film but it made me realize the importance of Zack's intros. It's as if without him, we slowly acclimate ourselves to the film, like dipping our toes in the water to check the temperature, whereas he joyfully throws us in the deep end.