‘Juice’: An African-American Horror Classic
Over the last few years, we witnessed an emergence of black horror that’s taken the world by storm. Get Out rewrote the twist on social commentary and made our skins crawl. His House intertwined the terrors of immigration mixed with hauntings. The new era of macabre is here and thriving. But, there’s a film from the early 90s that deserves its flowers as a Black horror masterpiece.
Just some years back, I stumbled upon the realization that one of the black cult classics very well fits the bill of a modern-day horror thriller. That movie was 1992’s Juice, directed by master of horror Ernest R. Dickerson. Over the last 30 years since its release, Juice is practically a slasher film in the image of Friday The 13th. But, instead of Pamela Voorhees pulling strings, it’s Tupac hunting his own friends down with a Saturday Night Special.
Juice is phenomenally cast from top to bottom. As mentioned, Tupac Shakur plays the main antagonist, Roland Bishop, with Omar Epps as Q, Jermaine Hopkins as Steel, and Kahlil Kane as Raheem. There are also appearances by all-stars Donald Faison, Queen Latifah, and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie is primarily about teens trying to make a name for themselves on the street. While pursuing clout, they get wrapped into small territory quarrels, a DJ battle, and lots of murder and robbery. Well…most of the murder is committed by Bishop.
So let’s break down things part by part.
Birth of A Villain
We see Bishop go from a lovable and funny guy to a stone-faced maniac. On the surface, he’s a teen who resides with his grandmother and father, whose time in jail has left him mentally scarred. Bishop’s nemesis, Radames, hints at this in their encounters. He taunts Bishop about his father being assaulted in jail and how he will share the same fate. The constant reminders, in my opinion, contributed to Bishop’s unstable nature. After all, it’s the Juice he wants — the proverbial reputation amongst his peers and community that he’s not to be provoked or trifled.
The curiosity about such an evil activity displayed the theater of Bishop’s corrupted mind. If he had an experimental therapist, the scenes would have looked like The Cell. The first sign that we probably should’ve known Bishop was psychotic was when a local friend, Blizz, robbed a neighborhood bar. Bishop wanted to assist in said robbery and fight side by side with him.
Shortly after their run-in, Bishop and company watch a movie titled White Heat. The film is a 1949 crime thriller starring James Cagney. Like Bishop, Cagney’s character morphs into his own shell of a menace before succumbing to death, which comes in a blaze of glory where he gets into a shootout with the police.
As put by Bishop, “That’s how you go out…”
Such a yearning for an end marked by tragedy is heavy. Bishop wanted the theatrics. He wanted to make a mark. He wanted his world to remember his name. It was just like most serial killers: they just want to be infamous.
Framing & Shots
My favorite thing about Juice is the way that scenes are framed and shot. Bishop lurks in the shadows of the night waiting for his victims. One such scene involves the shooting of Steel. After days of avoiding Bishop, Steel is shaken by an awaiting and hidden Bishop in his residential hallway. Bishop goes as far as coercing him into his own attempted murder. He takes Steel down an alley and mocks him about his obvious fear. When they’re alone, he shoots him.
During the pivotal robbery scene, you see the exact moment when Bishop embraces evil. Instead of just grabbing the cash from the register, he unnecessarily murders the store clerk. Shortly after being admonished for the shooting, he turns the gun on his best friend Raheem and takes his life. On top of that, Bishop robs Raheem’s dead body.
Raheem has a brief moment where he seems to rise from the dead like a zombie to stop Bishop’s early reign. The moment is short-lived, as Raheem eventually bleeds out to death.
Bishop then spends the rest of the movie covering his tracks and being overtaken by the power of his gun and shaken mental state. Every killing he commits, he uses it as a moment to boast about being the biggest and baddest killer walking the earth.
Let’s look at more of the tape:
The infamous scene of Q and Bishop at the locker was a beautiful shot:
Even Bishop hugging Raheem’s mom knowing he murdered the man in cold blood is terrifying. He looks Q right in his eyes.
The way Tupac was able to tap into his dark side spoke volumes about his performance acumen. They did an excellent job of building up each critical moment and smacking you across the face with shock and audacity.
Bishop ends up stalking and killing Radames and shoots Steel plus the murders of Raheem and old man Quiles. He piles up the bodies as only a slasher icon can.
The Ultimate Villainous End
After a while, Bishop’s descent into madness spirals out of control. He gets fed up and is ready to kill Q for avoiding him. But I’m just saying, you can’t just go around murdering your friends and thinking you can go catch a matinee the next day.
He catches up with Q and starts a game of cat and mouse. Like Michael Meyers before him, Bishop is relentlessly on the heels of his target. They run all around their neighborhood having a one-sided shootout and eventual rooftop scuffle.
The music used in each of these scenes sets the tone of a human hunt, reminiscent of The Town That Dreaded Sundown and The Shining. Ironically, Hank Shockley and The Bomb Squad did the film’s music. They were the perfect composers given much of the film revolves around the early rap scene and disc jockeying. They uniquely laced their hip-hop instrumentals with what’s described as “harsh, atonal sounds and samples” blended with blaring and dark audio. Scenes would go from Cypress Hill’s “How I Can Just Kill A Man” to a low baseline over the background of police sirens and horrified residents watching Bishop try to kill Q.
Bishop’s pursuit of becoming a neighborhood menace warped his friendships. He ends up losing the love that they built in the Wrecking Crew. His actions lead to him taking a plunge off a building to his death. He even shows a morsel of humanity before succumbing to the concrete jungle (always wanted to type that).
Juice stands the test of time. It gives the world a view of life in the “inner city”. This film is a bit more unique with its story of the betrayal of family and friends. Many that came after it were just as successful — such as Fresh, In Too Deep, and Sugar Hill. Tupac’s performance stamped him as more than just a rapper. His performance showed why he had a bright future as an actor with an unlimited range. It’s too bad his untimely death robbed us of his talent. He could have easily held his own in this genre.
His unchanging gaze and anger were something you could feel. It’s reminiscent of Robert Dinero in Taxi Driver. Like Travis Bickle, Bishop’s detachment from the cohesion of his neighborhood gang caused him to morph into a monster. Only for him, there was no mask or a costume, just a hoodie and jean jacket holding a Smith & Wesson.
Categorized:Black History Month 2023 Editorials News
