Def by Temptation (1990)

best movie i've ever seen.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Absolutely brilliant

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This cheap and cheesy all-black horror film is about a female demon in human form who goes around killing sexually promiscuous men. It's as simple as that, and a plot that's not necessarily bad given the right treatment. A pity, then, that the execution is all wrong in this often laughable amateurish effort, which was unsurprisingly distributed by the team at Troma.Everything about this film is bad, from the dated attempts at stylish direction to the rubbish acting (the possessed woman goes way over the top) and the even-more awful gooey effects. I used to see this film around on VHS and DVD back in the day although I never got around to purchasing it, and now I can see why.Really, the only reason anyone would go out of their way to watch this film these days is to see a few famous actors in early roles. Bill Nunn (SPIDER-MAN) is here as an erstwhile hero while Samuel L. Jackson plays a preacher. Kadeem Hardison (DRIVE) is also present. The blame for this film's failure can be laid at the door of writer/director/star James Bond III, who definitely bit off more than he could chew. As a blaxploitation horror film, it's a dog.

James Bond III's ambitious "Def by Temptation" has entertaining characters, is done with style, and its theme is pretty universal; it doesn't necessarily have to apply just to religion. It deals with the challenges one faces on their way to finding their purpose in the world and the battles they fight with themselves.The writer / producer / director also stars, as Joel, a divinity student from North Carolina who's uncertain of his future and thinks that visiting his brother 'K' (Kadeem Hardison), a film actor, in NYC will really do him some good. He finds that the city is, in his own words, a "wild" place. He won't find a better example of this aspect than the super sexy form of a predatory barfly, known only as Temptress (Cynthia Bond). She targets the horny men around her, and is in actuality a demon who knows that her greatest achievement will be the corruption of a pure soul such as Joel. 'K' comes to realize that this lady is bad news and tries desperately to save his brother.The movie is enhanced by the moody and striking lighting schemes courtesy of the talented Ernest Dickerson, who of course went on to be a fine director in his own right, although Dickerson would have to leave the production early, forcing Troma boss Lloyd Kaufman to step in. Bonds' movie is equal turns gory, atmospheric, comedic, and erotic, and is overall an impressive effort.Bond himself is admittedly quite low key in the lead role, but is inherently likable and one does want to see this guy rise to the challenge he's facing. Hardison lends his strong comic energy to his role; one particularly funny scene has Joel modelling various choices in clothing. Cynthia Bond is extremely alluring in the antagonist role; we can see that she would be pretty hard to resist. Bill Nunn is highly amusing as barfly Dougy whose attempts to pick up the ladies too often don't work out. It turns out, though, that Dougy has a surprise in store for characters and viewers alike. Melba Moore has a fantastic cameo as Madam Sonya, and it's likewise great to see Samuel L. Jackson as Joels' minister father, although fair warning to those who want to watch this movie for him: his screen time is quite limited.There's a lot of blood splashed around for all of us gore hounds watching; an early scene where the red stuff pours out of a shower faucet is visually powerful; the eventual demon makeup is not too bad although Bond never does stress the horror elements of his movie too much. There IS a fun moment where a character is yanked into a TV, and that's certainly one of the highlights.Those looking for B genre pictures that are above the norm would be advised to give "Def by Temptation" a look, as it really is nicely done.Eight out of 10.

I think most of the bad reviews for this movie are from people who aren't familiar with the Troma franchise. Troma is an independent film company that showcases unique, unusual and often very twisted projects from up-and-coming filmmakers who can't get a break from other (more hypocritical) film companies. "Def by Temptation" is certainly the work of an amateur, but I can tell that James Bond III put his passion into the movie and he did make a moderately good effort. I can't lie and say that the movie doesn't look low-budget, but its cheapness adds to its charm. And there's never a dull moment. The acting is often good, since quite a few of the actors are alumni from Spike Lee's films. Bill Nunn, who many might remember as Radio Raheem in "Do the Right Thing," gives the strongest performance and to this day I feel like he's one of the many underrated actors who never gets proper recognition for his talent. As you can expect, though Samuel L. Jackson is on the cover of the DVD and video, he's only in the movie for about 15 minutes. Once again, cashing in on the popularity of a big-name actor, who wasn't such a big name at the time. Kadeem Hardison, who many remember as Dwayne Wayne on "A Different World," does a fine job in the lead role, as does the female lead who plays the Temptress. About the only bad apple in the bunch is the director himself, who plays second lead. Bond's performance just seems way too subdued and his emotions seem forced.I understand he's supposed to play a laid-back, repressed, Bible-toting individual, but he plays the role a little too low-key. The concept of an all-black horror movie has been done before in films like "Blacula," but it's not a concept that has been repeated very frequently. Even in our supposedly politically correct times, the black characters still tend to die off significantly quicker than the white characters in scary movies. Some of the dialogue is a little too cheesy, but there's also a lot of funny dialogue. The movie takes itself more seriously than you'd expect, but it never gets too serious. Nowadays, we see tons of campy horror flicks that seem 90 percent comedy and 10 percent horror, so it's cool that Bond didn't want to go that route. From a technical standpoint, the film's best aspect is its lighting, especially during the bar scenes. The DP is Ernest Dickerson, who's worked on Spike Lee's films. The camera-work is sometimes shoddy, with some bad eyeline matching during the dialogue scenes, but the lighting is great. It was also fun to listen to the movie's hip soundtrack, mostly composed of R & B from the early 90's. It helps date the film, but not in a bad way. "Def by Temptation" is far from a masterpiece, but it's entertaining and unique. Just don't expect to see Sammy L. in a big role and you won't be disappointed.

I saw this on DVD and if you`ve seen the DVD case I`m talking about you`ll know that both the name and face of Samuel L Jackson is the most prominent thing on the DVD cover but don`t be fooled because when you play the DVD you`ll notice Jackson is credited fourth in the opening credits . So let`s see Jackson`s face and name are plastered all over the front cover and he`s credited as being fourth in the opening credits behind three other actors I`ve never heard of ! You really do feel this might not be a star vehicle for Hollywood`s funkiest black dude . Well guess what - It`s not , and DEF BY TEMPTATION isn`t the only DVD cover to con a potential audience into thinking they`re going to be watching a star name in a recent movie . Have you ever noticed DVD covers never mention what year the film was made ? They only mention when the DVD was issued .That aside I wasn`t all that taken with the movie itself . It probably did have potential but all the potential is suffocated by a non exsistent budget , the camera work is very static while there doesn`t seem to be more than three or four sets . Strangely though despite it having a grade Z budget the cast give performances far in excess than the film probably deserves , but the story is just basically " Female vampire goes on the prowl for victims " which isn`t exactly riviting Please note that Samuel L Jackson only appears in three short scenes