J.D.'s Revenge

Delivery Time: 7 to 15 Working Days Format: DVD

Outta the grave and into the ghetto comes the tortured spirit of a 1940's tough-as-nails gangster who pries his way into the body of a hip and likable young soul brother (Glynn Turman, How Stella Got Her Groove Back). With terrifying twists and turns, this spine-tingling, "sharp, hip and offbeat" (Boxoffice) adventure delivers pure urban action excitement! Ike (Turman) is having a night on the town when he volunteers to be part of a hypnotist's nightclub act. But when thedemonic spirit of a long-dead gangster muscles its way into Ike's mindall hell breaks loose! Calling himself J.D., Ike thinks he is the reincarnation of the murdered gangster as he launches a rampage of revenge to destroy those who did him in years ago. It seems no one can stop this killing machine until one of his soon-to-be-victims, a reformed hood turned preacher (Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Lou Gossett), comes to the ghastly conclusion that if he hopes to survive, he must save Ike's soul himself! *1982: Supporting Actor, An Officer and a Gentleman
It's been branded with the "blaxploitation" label, but there is little that's exploitive in J.D.'s Revenge, a film of well-drawn, articulate characters dragged into a supernatural showdown. Glynn Turman (Cooley High) is especially fine as the sensitive and quiet Ike, a determined student moonlighting as a cab driver, so wound up he's on the verge of cracking. Enter (literally) the ghost of J.D., a violent, vengeful gangster murdered in the opening moments. He could be Ike's own Mr. Hyde, a dapper, flamboyant ladykiller with a fiery temper and a straight razor who slowly smothers Ike's easygoing personality. Driven by flashes of memory, he sets his vengeful sights on fire-and-brimstone preacher Reverend Bliss (Louis Gossett Jr.), whose dark past is intricately tied up with J.D.'s murder. Director Arthur Marks (Detroit 9000) sidesteps the usual spooky clichés to stir up a modern New Orleans gumbo of ghost story, gangster tale, and character drama. J.D. is both devilish sadist and avenging angel, while the tortured Ike awakens from J.D.'s violent rampages with a hole in his memory but a sick feeling from his imagined complicity in the crimes. The story gets wrapped up a little too neatly in the end, but the dark character shadings and the evocative mystery at the center of Ike's possession makes J.D.'s Revenge an unexpectedly compelling supernatural thriller. --Sean Axmaker