Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by: The greatly named James Bond III
Starring: Bond III, Kadeem Hardison, Bill Nunn, Cynthia Bond, and for a bit, Samuel L. Jackson
From: Troma!
In the first of two reviews I’m posting today, both films revolve around the New York City of old. Yes, I’ve known of this movie in particular for many years and yes, I’ve always laughed that the name of the individual responsible for this passion project is named JAMES BOND III. I should have pulled the trigger long ago as even if I wasn’t sure what to expect from a production that was released by TROMA, the flick is a Black horror film about a succubus in New York City disguised as a Black woman who goes after sleazy, lustful Black man & just the plot description was different from the norm in the genre.
After finally pulling the trigger last night courtesy of the Criterion Channel… the movie is flawed and rough around the edges, for sure (Bond III the producer, writer and director” is better than Bond III the actor) but no regrets or disappointments here. III is a young minister in training, hoping to lead the same life as his daddy (Samuel L. Jackson!), but mom & dad died via what I’ll call “supernatural circumstances.” Bond III is experiencing a crisis in faith so he journeys from North Carolina to NYC to hang out w/ his buddy Kadeem Hardison. That duo plus police officer Bill Nunn all become involved with this demon, literally named Temptation.
To reiterate, it is flawed and rough at times. That point duly noted, it was still quite the feat to see a film ultimately about abstinence (from sex & booze), family and faith to have been picked up by Troma. As expected, I can’t complain about the acting from old pros Hardison, Nunn, and Jackson. A huge asset was the cinematography from Ernest R. Dickerson; the film looked lovely. The shakiness of the first act is made up for with the strong final 20 or so minutes where some effects work are shown.
Plus, I had a hearty laugh that Kadeem had various posters in his apartment and two were of DEMONWARP (an infamous 1988 movie I really need to experience one day) and 1987’s Lethal Obsession, a long-forgotten West German thriller which has some names-Michael York, Armin Mueller-Stahl and even Elliott Gould but stars a famous West German singer at the time named Peter Maffay who no one in the United States then or now has ever heard of &… no offense to my European readers.
Regardless, it was a delight to have finally given Def by Temptation a shot. Bond III has hardly done anything after the movie’s release; that does not diminish how unique this picture still is in late 2023.
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