Temptation has been seen as a human problem for millennia, a kind of instigator that can lead anyone to sin. It’s steeped in the biblical. The Apostle Matthew had a lot to say on it. He chronicles the time Jesus was tempted by the Devil and speaks on how the spirit, while willing, is not free form the weaknesses of the flesh. It’s all about showing how we all wear this flimsy moral armor that’s always a bad decision away from being fully dismantled by the prospect of personal pleasure. Director James Bond III’s 1990 film Def by Temptation is interested in precisely this, and it is one of the most compelling, funny, and terrifying explorations of the concept in Black horror. A lot of it is owed to the creature at its center, a demonic woman that preys on lost men that can be easily overtaken by temptation.
Def by Temptation, distributed by Troma Entertainment, follows a young minister-to-be called Joel (played by Bond III, who also scripted, produced, and directed the movie), as he travels to New York City to visit his childhood friend K (Kadeem Hardison). Joel is trying to figure out if a life of religion is what he really wants, something his friend left behind when he moved to the big city. But Black men are disappearing in the part of town K lives in, and they were all last seen at a bar where a luscious and seductive woman with no name (masterfully played by Cynthia Bond) sits in every night. Another man, called Dougy (Bill Nunn), takes notice of the woman and keeps tabs on her to see if she’s involved.
It’s quickly revealed that the woman is some kind of demon that offers men of loose disposition a night of passion they won’t live long enough to regret. Joel falls into her web, but is she to blame for the temptation, or is it all a consequence of his lack of conviction and restraint?
What sets Def by Temptation apart from other movies that deal with the topic is its focus on the villain and her choice of victim. It could’ve been very easy to frame women as those responsible for leading men astray from the righteous path, something a lot of movies fall back on (as seen in certain noir movies that turned femme fatales into metaphorical Soviet agents looking to break up American families). Had the woman not initiated a flirtatious exchange with a married man, for instance, then everything would’ve been okay. No infidelity, no STD, no transgression on morality.
Instead, the demon (a succubus specifically, an entity that appears in dreams to seduce men) focuses on men that are already inclined to check their morals at the door and only come back for them after they’ve fulfilled their carnal needs. In a sense, the demon is a stand-in for consequence. She manipulates those who have already decided to give in to their lust, with no consideration for the people they hurt along the way.
The movie sets the tone from the very beginning, when the demon picks up one of the bartenders from the bar she frequents. She overhears him talking to a woman on the phone that he’s gotten pregnant. He’s all dismissive of the situation, casually suggesting abortion not just as a solution but as a condition of their continued affair. The demon finds easy prey in the bartender, which leads to the movie’s first kill.
Actress Cynthia Bond plays the demonic temptress as an irresistible force that weaponizes sex to satisfy her own agenda. What makes her special, though, is how she lets the men pull the trigger on themselves, so to speak. A married man already puts himself in the crosshairs by removing his wedding ring to better his chances at a one-night stand, the movie argues. This approach keeps the viewer constantly aware of the sexual politics on display, going for complexity rather than exploitation. It allows Bond to project a unique level of darkness that turns her character into one of the most imposing monsters in Black horror cinema.
This can be appreciated in a sequence that concerns a gay man that follows her to her place. She’s angry because the man did not engage with her on her own terms, bypassing the seductive ritual she conducts to give the men she chooses an invitation into her bed. It can also be surmised that the demon senses the gay man’s intentions are perhaps dishonest to himself. That he’s only after her to prove something to himself, thus using her for it. What follows is one of the story’s most violent encounters, showing the demon’s displeasure in landing a victim that did not respect her selection process. Bond lets anger drive her performance here, giving her character a wider degree of expression that other movie villains wish they had.
When it’s time for Joel to step in, Bond plays the demon in an entirely different manner. She attempts to project the same kind of innocence he brings to the table back at it him. This is where the demon becomes truly villainous. She sees in this young man a chance to corrupt something that has yet to be broken down by sex and society’s attitudes towards it.
Bond III reserves some of the most terrifying parts of the story for these interactions, relying on dream sequences that show the demon in a black veil that conceals her identity as she gets ever closer to Joel. It comes as a warning on the risks one takes in courtship, and how unpredictable the process can be when the parties involved maneuver themselves around it with two different set of expectations in mind.
These dreams showcase a striking blend of lighting that let dark and light tones clash against each other to show just how difficult it is to remain sexually calm and collected when lust and desire are running the show. Of course, a string of great performances help make sure the message comes through, with Cynthia Bond leading the pack and Kadeem Hardison adding an extra wrinkle to the proceedings as his character, K, starts worrying over Joel’s life. Hardison balances jealousy and reason well here, as he almost surrenders to the demon’s seductive powers but avoids falling entirely because of his dedication to his friend.
Def by Temptation is an exceptional meditation on temptation and the horrors it can unleash. It’s fair in its observations and it doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Bond III invites conversation without judging those who fall under its spell. If anything, he warns against selfish temptation, the kind that hurts people and comes with considerable collateral damage. To do so, he created a movie monster that should be thought of as a legitimate horror icon. Cynthia Bond’s performance is one of the greatest in horror. So great, in fact, that it’s easy to fall under the temptation of repeat viewing.
