''J. D.'s Revenge'' is a

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

released in 1976. It starred

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

and

Lou Gossett Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

. The main character becomes an unwilling host for the

restless spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

of J.D. Walker, a hustler killed 30 years earlier when he was wrongfully accused of killing his sister.

Plot

The story centers around Isaac Hendrix (portrayed by Turman), a young college student studying law and a taxi-cab driver in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. While out on a night of fun with his friends and wife Christella, during a hypnosis act, he becomes an unwilling host for the restless spirit of J.D Walker, a hustler killed during the 1940s. Over the course of the film, "Ike" finds himself gradually being taken over by the sociopathic Walker, even eventually going so far as to adopt his hair and fashion style, mannerisms, and psychotic tendencies (including an attempted rape on his wife after she mocked his J.D. haircut). With the spirit of J.D. in complete control, he turns his attention toward wreaking vengeance against the man responsible for killing his sister, Theotis Bliss. Ike commits havoc all over town before making his way to the church where Theotis' brother works as a preacher, where he finally reveals himself and instructs Elijah to tell Theotis to meet him "on the killin' floor". Ike's wife has, meanwhile, gone to her ex-husband, a cop who is out for Ike's blood, believing him to be a simple psycho hiding behind a false persona—until he mentions to the Chief that Ike claimed his name was J.D. Walker, a man who was not only real, but also had died over 30 years ago. J.D. was a hustler who ran numbers during World War II, as well as a black-market meat plant where he was murdered by Theotis Bliss after witnessing the murder of his own sister, Betty Jo, at his hands because of her derisive chiding of him and threatening to expose the secret she held about her baby daughter. After being discovered over Betty Jo's lifeless body with her blood on his hand, Elijah Bliss (Gossett Jr.), Betty Jo's husband and the believed father of her child (and younger, submissive brother of Theotis), accused J.D of being the killer and J.D was gunned down on the spot by Theotis to cover up the event. Following Theotis to the old factory, Elijah finally learns the truth before getting into a struggle with Theotis for his gun, during which the weapon discharges and kills Theotis while Ike watches, and laughs maniacally as the event plays out. His business complete, J.D. appears to leave Ike's body and due to Elijah's testimony, he is allowed to go free to rejoin his wife and friends waiting for him outside.

Cast

as Isaac "Ike" Hendrix *

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Elijah Bliss *

Joan Pringle Joan Pringle (born June 2, 1945) is an American actress known for her roles on ''General Hospital'' (1963), '' The White Shadow'' (1978), and ''Original Sin'' (2001). One of her best-known roles was that of vice principal (and subsequently princi ...

as Christella Morgan * Carl W. Crudup as Tony * James Watkins as Carl * Fred Pinkard as Theotis Bliss * Jo Anne Meredith as Sara Divine * Alice Jubert as Roberta Bliss / Betty Jo Walker * David McKnight as J.D. Walker * Stephanie Faulkner as Phyllis * Fuddle Bagley as Enoch Land *

Earl Billings Earl William Billings (born July 4, 1945) is an American actor, best known as Rob in the television series ''What's Happening!!''. Life and career Billings was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Willie Mae Billings. He has gained recognition ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Turner * Paul Galloway as Garage Man

Reception

The film received mixed reviews.

DVD

''J.D.'s Revenge'' was released to DVD by MGM Home Video on April 1, 2003, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD. ''J.D.'s Revenge'' was rated R18 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for violence and horror.

References

External links

*
J. D.'s Revenge
' at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:J. D.'S Revenge 1976 films 1976 horror films African-American horror films American International Pictures films American supernatural horror films Blaxploitation films Films directed by Arthur Marks Films scored by Robert Prince Films shot in New Orleans 1970s English-language films 1970s American films