Why is Def By Temptation (1990) Still James Bond III’s Only Feature Film?

This weekend marks the premiere of Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated third feature, Nope, which could very well establish him as one of this century’s great directors.*

His career is an interesting one, and not because of hyperbolic hot takes that even Peele himself has to laugh at. Despite a vibrant lineage of Black horror (as cataloged in Horror Noire, a really good documentary from a few years back**), Peele is the first consistently bankable Black horror auteur, even if he’s too humble to admit it.

The numbers don’t lie. Get Out set the world on fire in 2017, grossing a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide—even though Blumhouse was the only studio willing to give him a shot (and only a $5 million budget). Us was an impressive follow-up, this time with a major studio (Universal), even though they still only gave him $20 million to play with. And guess what? That movie also made a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide.***

But I’m not here to talk about Jordan Peele (at least not anymore). I’m here to talk about James Bond III, an actor and filmmaker who has one of the coolest names of all time.****

James Bond III (it feels wrong to only use his first or last name, or his number) made his way in the film world as an actor with appearances in several TV series in the late 70s and early 80s (and the occasional feature film, such as The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, a movie that definitely exists) before landing a supporting role in Spike Lee’s School Daze.

Being on set with Spike and his crew of regulars changed the trajectory of James Bond III’s career (or so he thought). I imagine this is where he met fellow actors Kadeem Hardison and Bill Nunn as well as legendary director of photography Ernest Dickerson. And then just a couple years later, James Bond III had recruited all three of those men to help him with his first writer/director gig, a horror film called Def By Temptation.*****

It’s a good film too! The special effects are a bit dated at times, and the film’s treatment of women hasn’t aged well (the villain of the film is a succubus called The Temptress seeking to corrupt and ruin young men), but in most ways, it’s exactly what you’d want from an early 90s horror movie, right down to the soundtrack.******

It’s the sort of film that should’ve launched a lucrative career for James Bond III—especially in 1990 when the 80s vibe was dying out and the major slasher franchises were losing steam and horror audiences were eager for something fresh. (Candyman was just two years later.) But it didn’t do that. Even though it was produced by the notoriously low-budget Troma Entertainment, it managed to scrounge up a respectable $2.2 million in theaters, all at the domestic box office.

And that was the last we heard of James Bond III. He hasn’t written or directed a film since then. He hasn’t even acted in a film since then.

There are some noteworthy one-and-done directors throughout cinema history, of course. Some are from actors who simply wanted to try their hand behind the camera (Night of the Hunter, One-Eyed Jacks, Don Jon), some are due to being woefully overlooked upon their release (Carnival of Souls, 9), and others are due to the tragic death of their creators (An Elephant Sitting Still, Night of the Hunter again).*******

But James Bond III’s seemingly promising career coming to a grinding halt is more intriguing to me. Considering that industry executives were (somehow) surprised by the success of Get Out in 2017, I think it’s likely that James Bond III was just “ahead of his time.”

However! Hope remains alive, reader. Because James Bond III has a Facebook page, and that Facebook page uploaded a cover image on May 18, 2017, with one of the best flex proclamations I’ve ever seen:

“Some call him the Black Hitchcock. Some call him the Maestro of Suspense. Either way…He’s back! More clues coming…”

Tremendous. Yes, it’s been five years since that image was created, and more clues did not, in fact, come. I should also note that his web domain expired since that time, which is tough. But less than a year ago, James Bond III created an Instagram account and uploaded that same image from Facebook. (It is still his only Instagram post.)

Is James Bond III just bored and teasing his dozens of fans with hints of a comeback? Or does he really have something in the works? Even if he never makes another film of his own, I think he’s primed for an acting comeback at the very least if a savvy director lures him back in front of the camera. Just this year, we saw Ke Huy Quan return to the big screen in a big way. It could happen!

*Nope is really good, by the way! I saw it last night and wrote some scattered thoughts on Letterboxd if you’d like to read them.

**That was directed by a University of Alabama graduate! I am eagerly awaiting Xavier’s narrative feature debut.

***It is honestly a little bit eerie to me that Get Out and Us both grossed $255 million, even if the former could be rounded up to $256 million. If Nope grosses $255 million I might do something drastic like invest in stocks.

****It’s the “III” that really does it for me. If he was just James Bond it would be like “Oh, what a funny coincidence.” But he’s walking around as James Bond’s grandson. What a wild and messy family tree that could amount to.

*****I watched Shudder’s presentation of this film for The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. I believe Joe Bob said this is the first horror film to feature an entirely Black cast. Significant!

******Jazz saxophonist Najee appears in this film and plays himself. Shouts out to Najee.

*******I may or may not be writing about another one-and-done directing job next week. 😉

Def By Temptation is available on Peacock, Shudder, AMC+, and Tubi, and it’s available for rent elsewhere.