When I first saw GANJA & HESS, Ifell in love with it. More art house, than an exploitation flick, but due to a mostly all black cast, and the lurid subject matter (vampires), it was lumped in with all the other blaxploitation films of the era (it was called BLACK VAMPIRE is some markets). Make no mistake about it--this film is one strange piece of cinematic fruit. Masterfully directed by Bill Gunn who'd only made one film (entitled, STOP) prior to this one, GANJA & HESS is a masterpiece and a landmark in cinematic history.
Though the film is about a vampire, it is like no other vampire film that I've ever seen. Vampirism is only a metaphor for addiction in this film, and the film is filled with metaphors. There is not a lot of dialogue either. Gunn mostly relies on visuals to tell the story, which no doubt will baffle most casual filmgoers (it baffled me for the first half of the film, the plot is not told in a linear fashion). The cinematography and directing is way ahead of its time, and its influence on later films is obvious. For the most part, the film comes off like a fever dream, and does not--for one second, apologize for it's strangeness. If you get it, you'll love it, if you don't, you probably won't.
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The films stars Duane Jones (many will know him as Ben from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), as Dr. Hess Green, an anthropologist that just got back from an excavation of an ancient African civilization called Myrthia. He brings back an ancient artifact (a sharpened femur bone), said to be cursed. Hess has a friend named, George Mada (Gunn). Mada is going through some sort of personal crisis, and Hess allows him to stay at his house for the time being. That night, Mada snaps and stabs Hess with the artifact, and then commits suicide. Hess wakes up without a mark, and finds Mada dead in a pool of blood. His first instinct is to get on all fours, and lap up the blood. Hess is now--for some reason--a blood fiend that can not be killed.
Hess's cravings lead him to kill a prostitute and also rob a blood bank. Keep in mind, Hess is a very wealthy socialite (another landmark; a black lead character that is an educated and wealthy) and a God fearing Christian. Soon, Mada's wife calls Hess, questioning the whereabouts of her husband, to which Hess tells her, Mada has run off, and he doesn't know where he is. Mada's wife ends up coming to Hess's manor, and stays there awaiting George's return. Mrs. Mada's name is Ganja, played by the ever gorgeous Marlene Clark, and she's a bitch, no check that, a SUPER bitch. Now the word 'bitch' is thrown around a lot these days, and it seems to have lost its meaning a bit. Sometimes 'bitch' can mean a strong woman, who gets what she wants, like a diva. Ganja is most definitely that, but she is also pushy, rude, mean, and nasty, which makes her a true, bitch. There are two scenes involving Ganja and Hess's butler that will back up that statement.
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Soon, Hess and Ganja fall for each other, and a romance starts. Even when Ganja stumbles across George's corpse in a cellar freezer, she still wants to marry Hess. They are an odd couple to say the least. So it is inevitable that Hess turns Ganja into a 'vampire' so their love can last forever. He stabs her with the bone (LOL), and invites a young handsome black man over for her to feast on (after they fuck, of course--this was the 70's). Ganja soon learns that being undead is not all that hot (literally), and Hess has a breakdown after killing a young mother for her life-juices. Note that I mentioned that Hess is a Christian man earlier. There is a scene at the end (I'm not really spoiling anything by mentioning it) where Hess seeks redemption that single handedly should have garnered Jones with at least an Oscar nod--Yet again, an example of race relations at the time of this film. Both Jones and Clark would have been major players in Hollywood, if this film was released in this day and age, their performances are 'that' good. Not to mention Gunn for his directing and James E. Hinton for cinematography.
One thing that I could not leave out is the score by Sam Waymon who also acts in the film as Rev. Williams (another great performance as well—he becomes his character). This is one of the best scores EVER. Not since Goblin's score for SUSPIRIA have I heard an eerier score. Full of African chants and solo melancholy vocals, with the reverb cranked to ten, and all sorts of miscellaneous other noises from a music box, chimes and some creepy piano twinkling. There is also some great soul and gospel music on top of all that. If anybody knows how to get a hold of the soundtrack, let me know.
Gunn's directing along with the cinematography work of Hinton, and the performances of Jones and Clark make this a film to not to be fucked with, and that's just what happened when it was released. Released as a major film (not to the art house theaters, which it should have been) it flopped. So, the powers that be, re-cut the film for the drive-in market, called it BLOOD COUPLE (also BLACK VAMPIRE) hoping to cash in on the blaxploitation craze-- ripping the heart out of the film, causing the true cut to be lost in limbo until the late 90's. From what I've read BLOOD COUPLE is a complete butchering of GANJA & HESS, and if this is the version of the film you may have seen, you've not truly seen the film.
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I will not lie, and say that everyone will like this film, though I've given such high praise. Some folks, including some of you reading this review right now, may in fact HATE this movie. I had no idea what to expect when I popped it into my DVD player. Only knowing it was a blaxploitation film (it is, but in no traditional sense) about vampires (again, in no traditional sense). So I was expecting a campy horror romp--Far from it. I almost turned the movie off twice in the first 45 minutes of the film. Thoughts filled my head like "What the hell is going on?" "Huh?" and "Man, this is fucking WEIRD!" but I would not give up on it, mainly because I could just not stop watching it. By the last scene, I thought I'd seen God. What a brilliant movie! I re-watched it immediately. I've only done that a few times, for I'm not one to watch a movie multiple times in a short period. The last movie I remember doing that was FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. I caught the first matinee on opening day, and just stayed in the theater after the credits and watched it again. Not only did I watch GANJA & HESS twice in a row, but again the next day with the commentary track.
If you happen to check the film out, all I ask is that you watch it the whole way through, and with an open mind, and prepared to think (doh!). Not because the ending is some big payoff, but because the film just clicks together by the end. Also, there is a 'what the fuck' last scene that leaves the audience to decide the meaning of the whole thing.
Duane Jones passed away of heart failure in '88 and Gunn passed in '89. Both were two great contributors to the art of cinema that probably never got their due.
Screenshots courtesy of www.blaxploitationpride.org
GANJA & HESS trailer