Ganja & Hess

There are others that can talk about the symbolism in this film much better than I can. It was made for Black audiences, and I certainly won't try to describe what director Bill Gunn was trying to say.

This film effectively ended Bill Gunn's short career. He was supposed to make a Blaxploitation film like Blacula. He failed his producers by making an art film, which they chopped up and released under another name. This is the fully restored film with an amazingly beautiful score by Sam Waymon.

If you are looking for horror or blaxploitation, you came to the wrong place. This film was shown at Cannes - the only American entry that year - and received a standing ovation.

There was a time when film was slower. Shots were longer and cuts were considered an interruption. Ganja and Hess is of this era. Before you say anything, realize that image means a lot in cinema. Just the amazing imagery and in-depth account of black life without the white gaze make this an important film. The rich world of Dr. Hess unfolds with African connections, the church, and the street all make for a pioneering film with complete disdain for established norms. As a student of black cinema this along with Bush Mama and Killer of Sheep are simply must sees. For the second wave see Daughters of the dust, Dead presidents and Sankofa. While it is no night of the living dead it is an import stop in the history of the horror genre.

One of the strangest and most unique horror films of its era, not to mention a key title in the history of indie black cinema. Bill Gunn's evocative movie was done no favors by its various edits and releases -- and its shoddy treatment on home video. In addition, alternate titles such as DOUBLE POSSESSION and BLOOD COUPLE have further contributed to it never getting the serious attention it deserves. Spike Lee's little seen remake as DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS gave it a blip of notoriety, but that soon faded.

At its most basic, its a variation on the vampire legend, here with the twist that its a sacrificial blade not a bite that turns one into the undead. An anthropologist, Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones) researching in Africa comes into possession of the knife and soon is stabbed giving him an unquenchable thirst for blood. Hess lives a comfortable upper class life in a large secluded retreat with his butler George (Leonard Jackson) and various assistants. His need for blood forces Hess to take trips into some of the seedier parts of town to satisfy his addiction. The wife of one of those assistants, the incandescently beautiful Ganja (Marlene Clark), eventually makes her way into Hess' home. Her arrival is awkward and confrontational at first, but, eventually grows into a relationship. Over time, Hess breaks her will and convinces the reluctant Ganja to join him in the ranks of the undead.

GANJA & HESS isn't about the plot. It's the mood, symbolism and atmosphere. The low budget film is very leisurely paced and the acting is iffy at times (both, put kindly). It treads the line between arthouse , horror and semi-professional exploitation picture - often all three in the same sequence. But, the deadening tempo really works here. There's a genuine feeling of the monotonous life of a man (and, eventually, a couple) who is never in a hurry, secure in the knowledge that he/they are immortal. Secure, but, still filled with the dread that they must continue to suckle the life source of others. No amount of re-cutting could ever makes this into a traditionally commercial picture. The various edits often lopped off a half hour or more from the run-time and tried, unsuccessfully, to pitch it as a Blaxploitation film.

Casting Jones who was so memorable as Ben in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a masterstroke - from Zombie hunter to an undead ghoul here. We never see Hess in Africa, but, there is a brief clip of ritual dancers singing an evocative hymn that Gunn uses as a sort of haunting chorus inserted in various points in the movie. The shock scenes are quite frightening in their intensity, however brief they are. The music, photography and sound design are authentically felt. There's a memorable and chilling exchange between the couple when Ganja talks about how cold she feels now that she's joined her partner. Hess deadpans: "You get used to it."

GANJA & HESS isn't an easy watch. It's slow and offbeat from beginning to the very, very end. But, for those who are willing to immerse themselves in the life of this 'Blood Couple' - it can be a richly rewarding and ethereal experience.

Many comments on this film from other users implicitly take on a perspective not unlike that of the producers who severly cut the film before its theatrical release because they expected it to be a more conventional blaxploitation horror film. It is neither blaxploitation nor horror, but instead one of the few (only?) examples of an independent African-American art cinema from the early '70s. It may be flawed, but it is also an incredibly ambitious, challenging film. If you are a fan of Shaft, Superfly, et. al., you may not like this one; if you are a fan of Bergman, Bunuel, or Antonioni, you should check it out.

GANJA AND HESS is indeed an offbeat film. It is interesting, because of it not wanting to be just a blaxploitation film of the seventies, but it has a looseness which often makes it wander around too much.

Otherwise it points its finger to African culture, which is a great theme that could be investigated more often.

Duane Jones is fascinating as ever, even he's made only so-and-so-much films. I originally came to see GANJA AND HESS because of Duane Jones' great performance in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.