Ganja & Hess

Ganja & Hess (1973)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones) is stabbed with an ancient dagger, which transforms him into a vampire always in need of blood. After the suicide of his assistant, the man's wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes to the home and soon she and Hess have a strange relationship building. Legend has it that director Bill Gunn was hired to turn in a blaxploitation film like BLACULA but instead he came back to the producers with this bizarre, surreal art-house film and it pretty much destroyed his career. The studio cut the film down to 78-minutes to try and make it sell-able but I was able to see the uncut 110-minute version. This is a hard film to judge because there's no question that it comes up well short of being a good movie but at the same time you really have to respect Gunn for trying to do something artistic and not just deliver some sort of drive-in trash that would have played at four in the morning. Of course, by doing a picture like this its appeal is going to be very limited but even though the flaws I think there's quite a bit of stuff to enjoy here. There's no question that Gunn has created a wonderfully dark atmosphere. This can be seen from the opening shots to the closing one. Gunn, who also wrote the screenplay, wants to make sure you never fully understand what's going on. Bits of dialogue flow that seem to have nothing to do with the film. We get scenes shot so strangely that you're more focused on how they were shot instead of what's going on. We even get a few additional characters that pop into the story and other strange bits like a wedding scene and a drawn out sequence inside a church. If you're expecting blood and horror elements you're going to be disappointed because both of those things are very small and don't have much of an impact on the film. The visual look is something very impressive as the cinematography really adds to the atmosphere. The way the film is edited is another major plus. Then we have the two lead performances. It's somewhat shocking to see that this was Jones first film since the release of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD five years earlier. I always wondered if his wonderful performance in Romero's classic was just a fluke but after seeing this film it obviously wasn't and it's a real shame that he didn't appear in more movies. Jones is extremely good in the part of the haunted doctor and it's one of those performances that requires very little dialogue. You can tell what emotions the doctor is going through just by looking into the eyes of Jones. I was really surprised at how well he could play this haunted soul but he pulls it off. Clark is also extremely good in her part able to play the overbearing witch but also the alternate moments of her character. GANJA & HESS is a really odd little movie and it's not going to appeal to most but if you enjoy weird and different bits of work then you might find it interesting.

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.

I first heard of GANJA & HESS (1973) on the Internet but, after reading several favorable reviews, I decided to purchase it and I'm glad I did – though I've only watched it once so far. While I absolutely adore the "old" horror films, it's refreshing that once in a while a film comes along that treats the genre with extra sensitivity and maturity: Bill Gunn's approach, while peripheral in intent, is highly original and invigorating. The music score adds that much more to it, while the photography and editing techniques envelop the whole in a truly stunning visual style. It is inconceivable that such a seminal (and relatively recent) piece of work was almost lost to the ravages of time, not to mention the ignorance and pretensions of commercially-minded distributors!

The DVD's Audio Commentary, though limited (due to the obvious absence of Gunn and Duane Jones), was quite informative and the cast and crew members involved were certainly enthusiastic, harboring a genuine affection for the film. The essay co-written by Tim Lucas was also very interesting, filling as it does the "gaps" concerning the film's background and its chequered history along the years.

I would have liked that the notorious shorter version of the film, BLOOD COUPLE – complete with alternate credits and extra footage, shot by Gunn but discarded when assembling the original director's cut – could have been included on the DVD but, when I put this question to David Kalat (All Day's President), this is what he had to say:

"On GANJA & HESS, all of the parties involved in the original version hated and despised the BLOOD COUPLE recut and everything it represented to them. They worked hard, for little pay, to make a Black art film, and found their work abused and maltreated. 25 years later, through the DVD, they found an opportunity to try again. None of them--the producer, the editor, the DP--would have agreed to include the BLOOD COUPLE cut on the DVD, and I respected their wishes. I used Tim's article as a way to describe that alternate version, even if it wasn't otherwise represented."

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.