Ganja & Hess

Ganja & Hess (1973)

Some marriages are made in Heaven. Others are made in Hell.

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

Date of release
1973-04-20
TMDB
5.7 / 10 (73)
Runtime
1h 53m
Genres
Drama, Horror
Director
Bill Gunn

Casting

Interesting facts

Ganja & Hess is a 1973 American black horror film written and directed by Bill Gunn and starring Marlene Clark and Duane Jones. The film follows the exploits of anthropologist Dr. Hess Green (Jones), who becomes a vampire after his intelligent but unstable assistant (Gunn) stabs him with an ancient cursed dagger. Green falls in love with his assistant's widow, Ganja (Clark), who learns Green's dark secret.

Production

In 1972, independent production company Kelly-Jordan Enterprises approached William Gunn, a black artist known at the time as a playwright and stage director, with the idea of making a "black vampire film" with a budget of $350,000. Though Gunn later told a friend, "The last thing I want to do is make a black vampire film," he accepted the project with the intention of using vampirism as metaphor for addiction.

The film's budget was relatively low, which led to creative problem-solving and a distinctive aesthetic. Gunn's artistic choices often defied conventional storytelling techniques, utilizing dreamlike sequences, elliptical editing, and experimental camera work to immerse the audience in the characters' experiences.

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