Ganja & Hess (1973)

After being stabbed with an ancient, germ-infested knife, a doctor's assistant finds himself with an insatiable desire for blood.

Director:

Bill Gunn

Writer:

Bill Gunn

Stars:

Duane Jones, Marlene Clark, Bill Gunn

Cast

Cast overview:
Duane Jones	...	Dr. Hess Green
Marlene Clark	...	Ganja Meda
Bill Gunn	...	George Meda
Sam L. Waymon	...	Rev. Luther Williams (as Sam Waymon)
Leonard Jackson	...	Archie
Candece Tarpley	...	Girl in Bar
Richard Harrow	...	Dinner Guest
John Hoffmeister	...	Jack Sargent
Betty Barney	...	Singer in Church
Mabel King	...	Queen of Myrthia
Betsy Thurman	...	Poetess
Enrico Fales	...	Dr. Green's Son
Tommy Lane	...	Pimp
Tara Fields	...	Woman with Baby

Storyline

Dr. Hess Green, an archaeologist overseeing an excavation at the ancient civilization of Myrthia, is stabbed by his research assistant, who then commits suicide. When Hess wakes up, he finds that his wounds have healed, but he now has an insatiable thirst for blood, due to the knife carrying ancient germs. Soon after, Hess meets his former assistant's wife, Ganja. Though Ganja is initially concerned about her missing husband, she soon falls for Hess. Though they are initially happy together, Ganja will eventually learn the truth about Hess, and about her husband. Will she survive the revelation? Will Hess?

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | male nudity | male full frontal nudity | vampire | character names as title | 

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Taglines:

Double Possession... The Story Of A Man And Woman Possessed By The Devil!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Vampire

Filming Locations:

Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,406, 3 June 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$21,197, 1 November 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kelly/Jordan Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 78 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Dolby 2.0)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was released theatrically several times by different distributors and under different titles. Initially released as "Ganja and Hess" by Kelly/Jordan Enterprises in 1973, it failed at the box-office and was then picked up by Heritage Enterprises. Heritage re-edited the film and released it under the title "Blood Couple" later that same year. This version included 15 minutes of footage not used in the original release print, despite being 33 minutes shorter overall, and was marketed as a blaxploitation film. This same cut was released to theaters by Goldstone Films as "Double Possession" in 1975.

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Quotes

Ganja Meda: [after becoming dependent on blood] Why am I always cold?
Dr. Hess Green: [quietly] I don't know.
Ganja Meda: Are you always cold?
Dr. Hess Green: Uh hm.
Ganja Meda: What have you done about it?
Dr. Hess Green: Grown used to it.

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Alternate Versions

Version entitled Blood Couple is heavily cut.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005)

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Soundtracks

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
(uncredited)
By Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Not As Anemic As I Originally Thought

To be perfectly honest, the first time I watched Bill Gunn's 1973 art-house horror movie, "Ganja and Hess," it left me quite cold and even managed to put me to sleep. I felt that the film was unbearably slow moving, featured unsympathetic characters, suffered from lackadaisical direction and mumbled line readings, contained numerous scenes that petered out listlessly and meaninglessly, and concluded with an excruciatingly protracted gospel finale. During a repeat viewing, however, to ascertain whether this film, which I'd loooong wanted to see, was really that bad--and with not so much lowered as altered expectations--I realized that the picture, despite its previously mentioned faults, does contain many fine qualities. In it, we meet Dr. Hess Green, an anthropologist who is stabbed by his unbalanced assistant with a knife from the fabled land of Myrthia and becomes a blood addict (the "v" word is never mentioned in this film), just as likely to sip his beverage of choice from a cut-glass decanter as to lap it up from a dirty floor. He takes up with the wife of his attacker, a beautiful though obnoxious woman named Ganja Meda, in a very unusual romance indeed. Duane Jones, the hero of 1968's seminal "Night of the Living Dead," is excellent and charismatic here as the bearded Dr. Green, and Marlene Clark does well in her difficult role. The film makes great use of an African chant that weaves through Hess' consciousness when he is, uh, thirsty, and its lethargic pace struck me, on a second viewing, as not so much glacial as dreamlike. This is a picture that almost demands and requires a second look to appreciate all its subtleties and various symbolic allusions. Put aside your expectations of fangs and capes and bats and you may find yourself really getting immersed in Hess Green's nightmare. This picture turns out to be not nearly as anemic as I initially thought!