Review: L.A. AIDS Jabber

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

L.A. AIDS Jabber (aka Jabber)
Directed by Drew Godderis
Visual Vengeance; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Entertainment
78 minutes, 1994 / 2022
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.MVDEntertainment.com/
This relatively new imprint of Wild Eye Releasing, called Visual Vengeance, is an interesting idea. They deal with lowest of low budget archival films, usually shot on VHS or some other older medium, without correction. The stories are goofy, but usually not as much as the acting. And for all of that, I say ‘Woot Woot!!” It is great that these films are getting to see the light of day again. There are so many VV films that I have never heard of before, though I have read the name of this one before in indie horror mags. I am looking forward to seeing it.

Jason Majik

The cheesy synth score by John Martin Turner during the opening credits tells you exactly where you are in the indie horror food chain. The main character, who is also the antagonist, is 19-year-old Jeff Roberts (Jason Majik). He definitely has some borderline mental issues, especially with anger. And now he has been diagnosed with AIDS; wouldn’t he have HIV first, especially since he believes he contracted it from a particular prostitute six months previous? Saywhat?

His anger is having an effect on his world, including getting fired by his boss (Fred Nugent); his physician, Dr. White (Craig Harris) and a social worker (Victoria Crane) are worried about him, that he will hurt himself or someone else, including his girlfriend (Mitzy Tony), but they will not call the police. Saywhat?

Meanwhile, Jeff is making a list to take revenge upon, including the prostitute, by, yes, injecting them with his blood. But wait, if the prostitute (Susan Para) already has AIDS to his belief, what would be the purpose of injecting her with his blood? Saywhat?

Marcy Lynn, Tony Donangelo

Unstable Jeff starts going around stabbing people on his list, as well as random pedestrians. The cops (Marcy Lynn, Tony Donangelo, and then Justin Mack) almost catch him but he escapes. I bring this up because in an alley chase scene you can clearly see the shadow of the cameraperson, which made me smile. I love low-budget films just for reasons like that.

When Jabby calls a feisty female television reporter, Judith Campbell (Joy Yurada), to threaten her, she has a co-worker include the police on the call to try and nab him. Yet when the cops come a-callin’ to her house to see if she wants protection, she questions how they know about it. Saywhat?

But, to be honest, I am impressed by the sub-stories, like the cops who are trying to get him, and the reporter who is in danger from needle-boy. The film actually has more depth than I was expecting, despite some of the logical fallacies, such as the ones I mentioned above. There are others as well, just not as glaring.

Despite being taken from master SD tape, the film is grainy as all get out, especially the outside night shots (the time capsule imagery of seedy L.A. is enjoyable), and towards the end there is video noise that made me both grateful that it is uncommon with current digital technology, and ironically a little bit nostalgic. The acting runs from pretty flat to over-emoting, but that is to be expected.

The film ends exactly like one might think it would be concerning our AIDS gent (well, I did, anyway), but there is still a nice O. Henry-ish twist at the end that had me laughing and a bit confused.

Majik, Joy Yurada

Now, the bonus features of this Blu-ray are extensive, all done within the past two years. It starts with the “Director’s Introduction to Movie” (1 min), a nothing burger of thanks to the cast and distributor. The real meat starts with the full-length commentary with Godderis, Wild Eye Releasing’s Rob Hauschild, and low-budget director Mark Polonia (e.g., Camp Blood First Slaughter; Shark Encounters of the Third Kind;Virus Shark). Sometimes there is a bit of just describing what is happening on the screen, but that is only a small part of it. Most of it is pretty interesting as there is descriptions of what was going on with the scenes, talking about L.A. at that time, and explains some of the Saywhat? moments, like the disappearance of a particular character. It is a good schooling for indie, low-budget filming. Amusingly, no one mentions the shadow in the alleyway.

And if that wasn’t enough, next up is “Lethal Injection: The Making of L.A. AIDS Jabber,” with the director (10 min). While I found the full commentary interesting, this covers mostly new ground, and is just long enough to keep the interest going. It makes sense the next interview is “Bleeding The Pack: An Interview with Lead Actor Jason Majik” (29 min). It’s a bit rambling, but he discusses how he was chosen for the role, what it was like shooting the film, and he fills in some gaps which even Godderis is vague. He also talks about the post-filming in his life, including seeing it for the first time while tripping. While it’s kind of unfocused, and maybe because of it, it kept my interest.

The next featurette is “L.A. AIDS Jabber - 2021 Locations Visit.” (16 min). I always find these before and after location scenes fascinating. It is led by Godderis, and things are almost indistinguishable from 30 years ago. Following is an “Interview with Blood Diner Director Jackie Kong” (9 min). As an actor, Godderis co-started in Blood Diner, which became legend. Honestly, I did not watch it. Nor did I watch an interview with Godderis’ son who appeared briefly in the film when he was 3-years-old, called “Growing Up On Set: Justin Godderis” (9 min). However, I was curious about the next, “Actress Joy Yurada Interview” (7 min). She played the reporter. Some of it is a bit rambling, but it was fun when she pulled out a binder with the film’s notes and her lines.

The next talking head is the “Through the Lens: An Interview with Cameraman Rick Bradach” (6 min). It’s okay, but not very engaging to me. “Interview with Actor Gene Webber” (4 min) follows. He was a secondary police character, and doesn’t really bring much to the table. The last two digital extras are a photo gallery consisting of behind-the-scenes shots of the first day of shooting, and the new version of the trailer.

On the physical side, there are liner notes in a booklet titled “Rage in the Blood” by Tony Strauss of Weng's Chop magazine, a collectible folded mini-poster, stick your own VHS stickers, and a reversible BR sleeve featuring the original VHS art

This is Drew Godderis’ only directorial endeavor, though he’s acted in a number of well-known B horror films. When it came out, Godderis personally distributed the film on VHS. I am aware it has been decades since this was released, but I wonder if he will ever direct more, please.

IMDB listing HERE