Shudder Sunday: Def by Temptation (1990)

 Bond, James Bond...III.  This Actor turned one-time Director is the man who brought us today's Film.

In honor of Black History Month, let's focus on this once-hidden gem ....

A real sleazy guy- basically an early Himbo- ends up with a woman at the Bar and goes back to her place.

All goes well until she starts to cut him up, whereupon he flees futilely for his life, dying at the door.

Just beware of male nudity, should that bother/offend you.

With no context, we next see a bunch of Scenes unfolding in short order...

A Priest- Samuel L. Jackson(!)- is talking about evil to his Son in Church (with nobody else there).
We see him and the Wife leave him with Grandma for a trip.
They die in a car crash (cue fake red blood that looks like paint) trying to avoid someone in the road.

Years later, the son- who's now an Adult (and the Film's Writer/Director/Producer) feels compelled to see his older brother in New York City.

All caught up now?

At the Bar- which is the setting for about 40% of the Film- we see her work her magic- as it were- on more people, including a man cheating on his Wife (who waits until he's in the Bar to take off his wedding ring!) and a, sigh, Gay Patron.

She maims and infects the former with AIDS (welcome to 1990!), while the latter is just killed.

She makes her moves on a young Actor- Kadeem Hardison- who fantasizes about her pretty much immediately.

He remembers that he has to meet his brother- the son- and is saved...for now.

The son explains that he's going to be a Preacher, but wants to 'see the World' first.  His brother is lapse in his religion.

All the while, the Temptress does her thing- only now she has a new target.

Guess who it is.

We find out that she's a Succubus and targeting the Priest due to him being 'the last of his line.'  Him being a Priest is, I'm sure, a bonus too.

Can his brother K- not to be confused with K from Men in Black- and a Cop save him?  Can he save himself?

To find out, stream the Film now.

A fun Film for all of the right reasons.  Seeing stuff like this always makes you wonder why the person never Directed another Film.  As I've said, there's usually a reason- like undue stress in the case of Dan Akroyd.

Without a story as to why Mr. Bond III only did this; I can just say that it was pretty darn good.  You can definitely see the things they did to save Money.  There are only a few Sets and limited Extras.

That said, the Sets look nice, and the absence of people is not that big of a deal to people that aren't as obsessive with detail as I am.

Some stuff is dated in a fun way- like the Music and Fashion-, while other parts are not so much- like the one guy being punished with AIDS.  It could have been far worse, mind you.

Of particular note, the Succubus design reminded me of Demons 2, as did their riff on 'creature comes out of the TV Set.  K also has a Poster for Demonwarp on his wall, so points for that!

So, if you want to see a 'Black Horror Film,' enjoy practical effects and a fairly simple Plot, there's a lot to enjoy.  For instance, this lady's failed Audition for one of those Shampoo Commercials...

A fun, inspired low-budget Horror Film.  This is the kind of stuff I love to 'discover.'