A lost Classic or a creaky mess? This is Ganja & Hess, a 1973 Vampire Film with some historical significance. Back in 1968, a Classic was released- Night of the Living Dead. As you probably all know, George A. Romero cast Duan Jones as the Lead, not caring whether or not he was Black. The part was rewritten from a 'hick' Truck Driver when Jones showed his erudite manner of speaking. Why all of this talk about Duan Jones? He's the Star of the Movie, of course! This is only the second time (and arguably the last time) he'd be the Lead in a Film. Given that the other is a Film that inspired Generations of Horror Writers/Directors/Actors, I'd say that is notable. So why isn't this Film so well known? For starters, it is not Public Domain like NotLD became accidentally. It's also...well, arty AF. Random music, long-ass shots of people doing very little and people deep in thought- you get tons of that here. Weirdly, the Plot is just thrown in your face at the beginning and...then still happens. It's not like Dark City's forced Exposition Dump to skip over an explanation. I know that there's a recut of this Film- in even less demand than a Snyder Cut- so maybe this is from that version. Mine has the original Title though, so...who the hell knows?!? Basically, a man is turned into a Vampire and has to live with it. Will this be more interesting than Romero's own Vampire Film (Martin)? Is it weird that Romero made an introspective, psychological Vampire Film AND his first Star did the same? Kind of. To find out why you may or may not care about this one, read on...
A man- Dr. Hess Green- is living the high life. He's got a Mansion, a Butler and a Limo.
It sure beats being accidentally killed by Hunters!
After some text explaining the Plot to come, we then get Narration from...the Limo Driver. Random, but it pays off.
Less paid off is a long, meandering monologue about Music accompanied by shots of people in traditional African garb.
If this means something to you, fine.
He takes in his Assistant (Ganja Maeda), but he's clearly unstable.
That night, the man is stopped from committing suicide and later attacks Green with a dagger from the Tribe he's been studying.
Said Tribe apparently drank blood, so that may be important.
Green isn't killed, but Maeda's next attempt to kill himself does work.
'Thankfully' they included a long shot of Maeda just sitting naked in the bathtub before this. Maeda is also the Film's Director BTW.
Green finds the body and...drinks the blood!
He finds that he now needs it to live, but otherwise seems to experience no penalties from being a Vampire.
At this point, Vampire Rules being broken means nothing to me.
A new one for this Film- he must drink fresh blood, not one he can steal from a lab.
The Film is nearly 2 hours long, so I'm going to skip past 2 Scenes of Green killing random people for blood. They mean nothing.
Ganja's Wife comes to Town and he can't exactly say what happened.
Time to keep her in the House, while you keep him in the Freezer!
While he's away, she finds the body and...doesn't freak out.
Nope, instead they get married!
You thought Sid & Nancy made a weird couple!
He makes her a Vampire, which she adjusts too pretty well. He even helps her kill a guy (after a '70s Sex Scene) and hide the body.
However, the guilt eventually weighs Hess down and he commits suicide by...standing in front of a cross for too long.
Oh and he's inspired to do this by attending the Driver's Church. See- it did pay off!
In the aftermath, she can't bring herself to die and gets a surprise...
The guy she drained suddenly jumps out of the nearby Lake and runs towards the House...and that's it.
The End....apparently.
A long, drawn out Film that surely means alot...to someone. I get that the Film is artistic. I get that the Film is full of metaphors and symbolism. Vampirism is a stand-in for addiction. I get it. The Film is just...so slow...and so ponderous. Art isn't for everyone- it's subjective. If you like
Ganja & Hess, I'm not here to tell you otherwise. The Acting is good. It was shot well. It looks nice. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just, well, the kind of Film I give Bob to watch instead of me every year. There are many good moments here. Jones really gives us the anxiety and guilt that his character has. There's a real primal moment when he goes in to drink the blood of the dead Ganja. In another Scene, we see him sadly-realizing his fate after killing one of his victims. He's really good in this. I take nothing away from him or the people behind the Film. I wanted to like it- oh well. If you're into the more arty and complex Horror Films (this is described as an Experimental Horror Film), you might like it. With the languid pace and random male nudity, it just won't be for everyone. Just like the print, things may get a bit hairy...
Next up, the Spike Lee Remake. We'll see if he just recreated it verbatim or did something other than making a fancier Title. Stay tuned...
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