The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

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.

K(Kadeem Hardison)must find away to stop a succubus/vampire/temptress(Cynthia Bond)from securing the desires of his young minister brother, Joel(James Bond III, who also produced and directed)who is visiting him from a bible belt town from North Carolina. He'll seek help from ladies' man wannabe Dougy(Bill Nunn, well cast)who frequents a popular pick-up bar. The temptress, as seen in flashbacks through Joel's nightmares, caused the car crash and death of his parents. This would be the ultimate victory for the succubus if she could cause a man of God to follow his fleshy lust and fornicate. We see the succubus claim several male victims she picks up in bars through various vicious attacks(Dickerson often shades the violence through some creative photography and set-ups perhaps because the money for the budget was tight and using the imagination was crucial). Will Joel remain faithful to the Lord or surrender his lusts to a demon? Can his brother, K, somehow help Joel before it's too late? Exceptionally well made considering it's minuscule budget thanks to cinematographer Ernest Dickerson's amazing, imaginative camera-work. The acting is off at times, providing some awkward moments, but the direction is potent enough to hold interest. The plot and decision to use all black performers adds a special ingredient to the horror genre. James Bond III is weak in the lead, but has enough charismatic supporters around him to sell the picture. The low rating on this site is ridiculous.

This movie had more of a religious theme than a horror theme. I enjoyed it and recommend it. It is low-budget but a good first effort for James Bond, III. There are a lot of know people from the 80's and 90's in the movie who, I am sure, were just there for the publicity; however, some of the actors actually did a pretty good job, including James Bond, III, who also played in Spike Lee's SchoolDaze along with Samuel L. Jackson. There are movies with bigger budgets that are nowhere near as good as this movie. The storyline and creative aspect of the movie are much better than the set and location. If this movie would have had at least a couple more million dollars in the budget, It would have been a hit and everyone would know about it.

The only reason I'm even putting any comments in for this film is because I just finished reading an interview of Samuel L Jackson and someone asked him if he was still in contact with Troma. Jackson quickly said, "Hell No!!" And I can understand why. Def by Temptation is an all black cast vampire movie starring the writer/director James Bond III, Kadeem Hardinson and Mr. Samuel L Jackson himself. It centers around a black vampire Tempest who is seducing black men and then killing them through sucking their blood. The special effects are gory and the story is pretty predictable. The acting is pretty bad, but in a funny kind of way. As a whole the movie is definitely a bit below average. It's about as good as Eddie Murphy's Vampire In Brooklyn, but funnier and scarier at times. Is it worth seeing? Sure, it's worth at least one rental if there is absolutely nothing else at Blockbuster that you want to see. Otherwise, drive a stake into this movie, cause it's dead.