Considering that this film was apparently made for only $5000, it's an amazingly good film. Now it STILL is bad, but it is worth a look! Spencer Williams is a man mostly forgotten today. While he's most famous, for those who want to remember this, for playing Andy on the "Amos 'n Andy" TV show, he was an accomplished man. He'd played in many black productions before this and with "The Blood of Jesus", he wrote, directed and played the male lead! Now' I will admit the writing wasn't great, but his direction (considering the budget) was excellent, as he and the cinematographer used some wonderful camera tricks to make the film look good for a super-cheapo production.
The film is the story about a Christian woman who is accidentally shot by her husband. While she appears to be dead (and her friends are VERY quick to pronounce her that way), she actually is on a journey a lot like Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress". The Devil and his helper, Judas, try to convince the woman to stray from the path to Heaven through the evil and dreaded nightclub! Well, okay, I'll admit this is pretty lame--and so it most of the film. But, I still liked it for the double-exposures, view of the Pearly Gates and its value as a historical artifact. The history teacher in me liked this aspect, though I am sure most will find it all very ponderous and bad. Worth a look for a select audience, as black cinema from this era has been mostly forgotten.
The bottom line is that it would be very easy to pick out what's bad about the film, though I challenge the viewer to put this in its historical context and recognize that for what it is, it has some value...some.
The film is the story about a Christian woman who is accidentally shot by her husband. While she appears to be dead (and her friends are VERY quick to pronounce her that way), she actually is on a journey a lot like Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress". The Devil and his helper, Judas, try to convince the woman to stray from the path to Heaven through the evil and dreaded nightclub! Well, okay, I'll admit this is pretty lame--and so it most of the film. But, I still liked it for the double-exposures, view of the Pearly Gates and its value as a historical artifact. The history teacher in me liked this aspect, though I am sure most will find it all very ponderous and bad. Worth a look for a select audience, as black cinema from this era has been mostly forgotten.
The bottom line is that it would be very easy to pick out what's bad about the film, though I challenge the viewer to put this in its historical context and recognize that for what it is, it has some value...some.