daniel-mannouch I first heard about JD's Revenge on a TV special called 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004) and it made #8. Whatever Ebert camper wrote in to have this quite unique experience 28 places down the pecking order from Ishtar!, hoped that by just showing the trailer and having the obnoxious narrator do a a oh so no care at all description of the plot would be enough to convince people of it's apparent 'awfulness'. The possible hope that viewers would clutch their pearls at the sounds of a black man saying the n word aggressively and mistake an authentic representation of a 40's zoot suit clad black gangster as a then contemporary racial stereotype. Either the makers of that actually quite high quality list compared to today's IMDb bottom 150 fare failed to recognise the Jekyll and Hyde parallels or got too much caught up in the game and thought being repulsed by intentionally repulsive scenes was a sure sign of bad film making. Sure it has pacing problems, but what Blaxploitation film doesn't? Apart from Jack Hill's films, but their you go. On the whole though, it was just the style, regardless of the director's colour. From Fanaka to Parks Jr. to Marks here, audience gratification peaked at 40% regarding filmmaking intentions, there were always messages to be had, like the sideshow carnival like exploitation of black church goers for one instance. J.D's Revenge ain't a popcorn film, but it's sure as hell still a white knuckle ride through sly and subtle racial political commentary and genuine and authentic feeling characters. On top of this, it is also one of the most vividly imaginative screen adaptions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Victorian novella that i can recall seeing since Borowczyk's Dr Jekyll and His Women, and that, is, a feat. Though i haven't seen it, i doubt even Dr Black and Mr Hyde would be a better blaxploitation retelling of the Gothic classic than this truly overlooked gem. It's a rough one though. Their's some awkward sex scenes to say the least and JD Walker is as a pure and jive incarnation of evil as I've ever remembered seeing on screen. Rape, incest, razors, it's all him and he takes it in his stride. These elements can be attributed to it's under-appreciated status in Blaxploitation cinema as there is little of the expected 'butt dancing' mentality in this one to quote the titular mean mother. Though admittedly, there is also a Ted V. Miekels atmosphere at times, especially with the ending.The most striking element of this film and why it hooks you in so is the contrast between law student Issac and the fire breathing JD. Glynn Turman (what a voice) gives an astounding performance as two polar opposite walks of the black experience. Intelligent and compassionate one side, darkly charismatic and demonically energetic the other. It's a tour de force, simply put. Everyone else is given a lot of improv leeway and it surely gives the film a distinctive taste, for better and worse, mostly better though as some of the line deliveries of otherwise overblown dialogue feel loose and organic, which is uncommon in Blaxploitation and exploitation cinema in general. In conclusion, JD's Revenge is defo a case of one of these is not like the others as it's a tough, mean and surprisingly moral affair that has so many striking elements, it's almost as tough as the film itself not to give it at least one watch. Highly recommended.

capone666 J.D's RevengeThe best way to tell if you've been possessed by an African American is if the police start arresting you for no reason.Unfortunately for the victim in this horror movie, he's already black himself.Sweet-talked into being the dupe for a hypnotist by his wife (Joan Pringle), law student Ike (Glynn Turman) instead becomes the unwitting vessel for the vengeful spirit of J.D. Walker (David McKnight), a New Orleans street hustler murdered in the 1950s.Adapting J.D's mannerisms and flamboyant attire, Ike unknowingly begins exacting revenge on Theotis Bliss (Fred Pinkard), the man who killed J.D's sister. The only person standing in Ike/J.D's way is Theotis' brother, Reverend Elijah (Louis Gossett Jr.).An intriguing fusion of Blaxploitation stereotypes and horror movie sensibilities, this cult classic can be as gruesome and violent as it can be campy and thrilling.Incidentally, in the 1950s black ghosts weren't allowed to haunt white families.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Wizard-8 Unlike a number of other 1970s blaxploiation movies, the story of "J.D.'s Revenge" is a more universal one at its core; with virtually no rewriting, the characters could have been played by actors of any color. The predominantly black cast does a very professional job, especially Lou Gossett and Glynn Turman. And director Arthur Marks does add a little style and atmosphere here and there. However, the screenplay does have some big flaws. I would have liked a better explanation as to how the spirit of J.D. is resurrected, for example. But the biggest problem with the screenplay is that it unfolds extremely slowly. It takes forever for J.D. to start his quest for revenge, and when he does, it unfolds even more slowly. Things might have been better had there been more people responsible for J.D.'s death years earlier, which would have given the filmmakers the opportunity to pile up the body count at a regular pace. Despite problems such as these, this is far from the worst blaxploitation movie made... but it's also some distance from the best the genre has to offer.

LNaeem I have seen many movies and played many video games. It is the most bad movie my life has seen. I live in Brasil and we get many bad movies. This is the most bad. I go to the grand theater to pay to see this movie. I stay up into the night to see this movie. The man has a spirit transcend his body and he then is a bad man. He walks around to play murder on women. I prayed. This movie is not a new movie and new movies are not all good. I typed in the words so I could tell everyone they should not see this movie. I have bad feelings about this movie. I have two children now and if they are very bad I will take them to see this movie and stay up into the night and see how bad it can be. If you think this movie is bad like I think you can email me. Sincerely, Lewis Naeem