COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - L.A. AIDS JABBER (VISUAL VENGEANCE BLU RAY)
The home video explosion and the horror genre go together like black gloves and Giallo films, and as any horror historian will tell you it is the reason why the 80s-90s were so flush with films and how companies such as SEVERIN, VINEGAR SYNDROME, and many others have a massive pipeline of forgotten films to release on the newest physical formats. The early 90s in particular saw a significant change in home video technology which further increased the output of amateur horror filmmakers worldwide. Some of these films are more controversial than others, and some had relatively limited releases only to be abandoned as home video formats evolved at exponential rates. This is why companies like VISUAL VENGEANCE exist; to bring back mostly regional micro-budget horror/exploitation films that use the same technology for your wedding, bar mitzvah, and any other significant life event you want to memorialize through the wonder of home video. This month in the crypt we review their third release, L.A. AIDS JABBER (aka JABBER) to see if this film that dabbles in poor taste is truly tasteless or a timely tale of the horrors of the AIDS epidemic peaking in the 90s.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Jeff, a mentally unstable young man is diagnosed with AIDS and takes his anger out on the world by filling a syringe with his own tainted blood and trolling the seedy streets of Los Angeles looking for victims in an acid-washed and venomous delirium. Police slowly piece together his crimes in an attempt to stop this ticking virus time bomb from jabbing again.
HOW IS IT?
The adage about judging a book by its cover may be the aptest way of describing the third release from VISUAL VENGEANCE. With a title as provocative as L.A. AIDS JABBER, released as JABBER to improve consumer reception, one expects the lowest and most depraved of ideas filmed in some of the most low-budget ways possible. Truthfully, the previous statement is only half true. L.A. AIDS JABBER is far more self-serious than the title alludes to, and is sadly one of the less interesting VISUAL VENGEANCE releases thus far. While it isn’t completely irredeemable it is ultimately a film that has very little to say and pads an already short runtime with needless side-stories that do nothing but prolong what is really just a short story.
The first thing to know about L.A. AIDS JABBER is that it isn’t a traditional horror movie. In fact, in spite of its name, it is relatively tame in regards to violence and sex. This actually works to the film's benefit in that it keeps the tone from wandering into something much more depraved, even though the premise itself is pretty unwholesome to start with. The odd thing about the premise is that there is no body count as no one dies right away from being stabbed by an infected needle. The assailant, Jeff, doesn’t actually mortally wound anyone even though his idea of injecting others with his blood is a pretty outrageous thing to do. Putting aside the ramifications of trying to directly inject blood into another’s bloodstream via syringe, the fact that the film focuses on Jeff taking out his anger for getting AIDS on others feels rather pointless. From what we can see Jeff isn’t a model citizen to start with, and we have no reason to explain his circumstance aside from bad decisions which he refuses to accept responsibility for. This makes his entire pursuit of vengeance to feel more vindictive rather than indicative of some greater commentary about AIDS and the impact it had at the time. To the film's credit though, they do not use the topic of AIDS to ever place any blame or demean the gay community.
While there are some truly absurd lines of dialogue within, L.A. AIDS JABBER feels much tamer than it appears. The story goes between Jeff terrorizing LA with his AIDS-laced syringe and then the interpersonal relationships of the cops investigating the case as well as a reporter who was tipped off that the cops were hiding something. All of these additional characters and storylines really don’t add up to much aside from distraction from what is still a very half-baked premise and story. The culmination of this 78 minute film is sure to disappoint in so many ways, even if it is one of the best possible outcomes for a story so steeped in as much silliness as seriousness for its topic matter. L.A. AIDS JABBER is an odd film that is shallow and seemingly made just to make something rather than have something to contribute. This feels like an odd criticism for a company that releases films like THE NECRO FILES, but sadly L.A. AIDS JABBER feels uninspired next to it’s more bonkers brethren releases
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
VISUAL VENGEANCE makes it quite clear that they are sourcing these from the best possible materials. Considering that most of these films were shot on home video there isn’t much more you can do to improve the video quality of films like these. I’m sure that most folks purchasing, or even considering these films are aware of that, but it does bear mentioning here again. Overall the film looks fine and captures LA in as drab a way as possible largely due to the quality of the film to start. That said, it’s watchable in its original fullscreen aspect ration of 1.33:1 and probably the best the film will every look so there’s something to be said for that.
Screenshots from the release are used throughout the review and below:
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Much like the video quality, the audio here is nothing to write home about. The Dolby 2.0 stereo track is sufficient, even though this release does sound a bit quieter than some of the others that VISUAL VENGEANCE has put out. These are accepted sacrifices considering the types of films and overall there is more talking than action so the sound plays a less important role in how the film plays out.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
The most admirable thing about VISUAL VENGEANCE is that they put maximum effort into special features for films that are largely labors of love made with extremely limited funds. The same is true for L.A. AIDS JABBER which features a series of interviews with various people involved with the film as well as related to the creators in some way. For the purpose of the crypt review, we watched a few different interviews to hopefully learn more about the “why” behind this SOV oddity. LETHAL INJECTION: THE MAKING OF L.A. AIDS JABBER WITH DIRECTOR DREW GODDERIS is a rather short 10-minute one-camera interview with the director as he talks about his intro to filmmaking and how this particular film got made. Candidly, there isn’t a really interesting story here as Drew talks about a tragic point in his life where his wife passed and he was left to raise their son. Despite this event, he claims he would bring his song to a local donut shop to write the script that would become L.A. AIDS JABBER. What is most interesting is that Drew talks about how they made this with a limited home video release and sold sight unseen because of the video stores searching for more content to rent out. This caused the film to make its budget and a bit more back, which is uncommon for films like these.
The next interview was BLEEDING THE PACK: AN INTERVIEW WITH LEAD ACTOR JASON MAJIK which was much longer than the making-of interview clocking in at 28 minutes. This interview tells a slightly different version of events in regards to the making of L.A. AIDS JABBER in that Jason claims the script was literally being written each day, and how disruptive it was to film with big breaks in between. Considering the year plus production time that was done mostly when possible meant that the chemistry that comes with momentum is lost and creates a jarring experience for the actors that may be apparent in their performances. One story that Jason tells near the end is worth the price of admission alone, where his first viewing of the finished product was while he was tripping on acid and a happenstance encounter with director Drew Godderis.
The rest of the special features for this collector’s edition release are listed below:
Commentary Track with Director Drew Godderis
Lethal Injection: The Making of L.A. AIDS JABBER with Director Drew Godderis
Bleeding The Pack: An Interview with Lead Actor Jason Majik
L.A. AIDS JABBER - 2021 Locations Visit
Interview with Blood Diner Director Jackie Kong
Growing Up On Set: Justin Godderis
Actress Joy Yurada Interview
Cinematographer Rick Bradach Interview
Interview with Actor Gene Webber
Liner notes by Tony Strauss of Weng's Chop Magazine
L.A. AIDS JABBER Photo Gallery
Blood Video Fanzine Essay by Billy Burgess
L.A. AIDS JABBER Trailer (2021)
Limited Edition Slipcase -- FIRST PRINTING ONLY
Collectible folded mini-poster
'Stick Your Own' VHS stickers
Reversible BR sleeve featuring original VHS art
LAST RITES
L.A. AIDS JABBER is a hard film to recommend to pretty much anyone. It’s not particularly interesting and is more packed with melodrama than genuine action, and has an ending that feels like a lame joke or just lazy writing. The special features offer very little as to why this movie exists aside from cashing in on the home video craze, and collector’s would be best to spare their hard earned dollars on other more worthy releases.
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you as always to our outstanding partners, MVD ENTERTAINMENT for the review copies. If you would like to purchase L.A. AIDS JABBER it is available now from MVD ENTERTAINMENT DIRECT!
Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following MacabreDaily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
