Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (Movie Review)

Spike Lee isn’t a name that immediately comes to mind in discussions of genre filmmaking. But the director’s latest work is a horror film about vampires. Sort of.

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, a remake of 1973’s Ganja & Hess, tells the story of Dr. Hess Greene (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a college professor who has acquired an ancient African knife. When a houseguest stabs Dr. Greene to death with said knife, he comes back to life moments later. The killer commits suicide, and upon finding his body, the doctor discovers that he has developed a thirst for human blood. Ganja Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams), the man’s British ex-wife, eventually journeys to Hess‘ compound on Martha’s Vinyard to find her ex-husband. Ganja and Hess fall for each other almost immediately, and the rest of the film explores the concepts of love and immortality.

Lee does some interesting things with the film which was completely funded by a $1,400,000 Kickstarter campaign. Though it’s obvious that the budget is low, the cinematography is very good, with Lee making excellent use of his New York City and Martha’s Vineyard locations. 80’s pop star Bruce Hornsby provides some of the score, but a significant portion of the music comes from unsigned artists the director found via solicitations on social media.

Lee doesn’t seem all that interested in vampire tropes. Greene can freely walk around in daylight. He does need human blood to survive, but he doesn’t have fangs, and his face doesn’t contort when he feeds. In perhaps the biggest deviation from vampire lore, Dr. Greene is a Christian, and his faith is center stage during the film’s climax.

Though there are certainly horrific elements in Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, it’s doubtful that most genre fans would acknowledge it as a true horror film. This was made for the arthouse crowd, with an emphasis on discussions of the depths the characters will go to for eternal life rather than conventional horror scares.

There are things to like about Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, and Lee approaches the concept of vampirism in some refreshingly new ways. One scene in particular involves Hess biting a prostitute only to discover that she has HIV. Other victims are often those closest to him which imbues the film with more of a human quality than most tales of vampires. But the dialogue is clunky, and the performances, particularly by the lead, are often stiff. At over two hours, the film is also much too long with scenes going on and on for no apparent reason. A 90 minute cut would provide a much more entertaining experience.

Lee chose to use crowdfunding for this project because he didn't think a studio would fund it. Although this wasn't a total success, it will be interesting to see if he will try Kickstarter again and return to horror in any of his future work. This method of filmmaking could provide him and other directors of his caliber with an excellent new avenue to create more quirky and exerimental pieces like this.