Da Sweet Blood of JesusAddiction is a powerful force, one which claims power over us by undermining our values, our morals, and our identity. It makes us do things we would not do in sound mind, destroying us indirectly. Addictions come--as expressed by Dr. Hess Greene (Stephen Tyrone Williams)--in many forms, from sex, drugs, power, and more; but Hess' addiction is unique, inflicted upon him after suffering a fatal attack with a sacrificial dagger recovered from the Ancient Ashanti Empire by his mentally unstable colleague, Lafayette Hightower (Elvis Nolasco). But Hess does not die; instead, he is born again, baptized in blood, yet cursed with the consuming urge to drain the blood of others to continue his undeath.
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Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is superficially a vampire movie; it is certainly a horror movie filled with scenes of carnage and gore, but it is also a romance between Hess and the surviving ex-wife of Lafayette, Ganja Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams), who is drawn into Hess' world, both his wealth and his vice. From the onset, it is evident that Hess is a cultured man, affluent, who dresses well and is composed, serene. He is a scholar of antiquity--especially with regards to the Ashanti--and enjoys a secure life at his home in Martha's Vineyard, where he proclaims to Lafayette that he is the only black man for miles. Hess is immersed in history, in the past, where legacies of blood are his currency. His parents left him their fortune after passing on; he explains to Ganja that they were the first African-Americans to have a firm on Wall Street. Of course, the irony here is that after Hess becomes a vampire, he bleeds the people of New York City--such as a single mother named Sahara (Jeni Perillo)--in a different fashion than his progenitors. Hess is regarded positively by his friends and admirers, but there is always the sense that his wealth is a vice, just as his predilection for blood becomes. There is a conversation he is privy to between a pair of guests at his home about addiction, and how one is a criminal or innocent solely based on which side of the law their vices are upon. Hess feels immense guilt at the urges to take lives which he is forced to yield unto; he is a Christian, and visits a baptist church in Red Hook, Brooklyn at the beginning of the film and at the end. At the church, his pastor--who marries him and Ganja later in a ceremony on the beach--gives the Eucharist, which is of course of the transmutation of wine into the blood of Christ. Hess keeps a notable wine cellar with dusty bottles, but must now fully commit his preferences toward more sanguine refreshment. Sitting in the back of the church, Hess is as he often comes across--aloof, distant, as though he were not of this world; is his transformation into a gothic vampire so drastic of a transformation, then?
When Hess meets Ganja--his valet, Seneschal (Rami Malek) drives her to his home, begrudgingly attending to her demands--she is abrasive, even rude, but she attracts Hess' attention all the same. Although Ganja is very beautiful, it is more likely that her proclamation to always tell the truth makes her serve as a kind of confessional for Hess, a source through whom he can reveal his secret, and hope to be understood. Their affair begins amid a conversation about forbidden fruit, and Hess' days become brighter as their romance blossoms. But one morning, as Ganja eats fruit during their breakfast, she bites into some cherries, and seductively lets the juice run down her chin--blood-like--which reminds Hess that his addiction is eternal in but one look. The blood disease Hess suffers is one he recalls to Lafayette upon discovery of the ancient dagger, describing that Ashanti legend holds that a queen took the blood of her strongest warriors to bolster her, and Hess infers this to describe advanced blood transfusion techniques. He goes on to describe that their kingdom was destroyed from within by a terrible blood disease, causing rampant anemia. Hess secretly visits a clinic under an alias, and gets tested for HIV, drawing a direct parallel between the vampirism and the auto-immune disease virus, as well as the stigmas associated with it. Does Hess bring Ganja into his world out of love--turning her likewise into a vampire on their wedding night--for the need for an accomplice, an enabler? Further, is Hess such a mastermind that he has even propagated this romance to this end? He certainly arranges events with his ex-girlfriend Tangier (Naté Bova) to awaken the darkness in Ganja; is this to help her reach acceptance of who she has become, or to ease his guilt about his own addiction? Ganja comments to Hess that she is always cold now, while they sit in their living room, somehow frigid in spite of the fire in the hearth; the scene is shot coldly, and the dialogue is even cool. Compare this with the following scene at the church, lit warmly, vibrant with community and song, as Hess still sits in the far back, observing--desperately seeking to reclaim his faith and good graces with God. It is somewhat ironic that Da Sweet Blood of Jesus was crowdsourced on Kickstarter, further cementing the significance of community in the overall scope of the film. Although the film avoids some notable cliche tropes of vampire films--and pokes fun at others, such as when Hess asks to be invited inside--there is still the significance in the "shadow of the cross", a reminder of Jesus' suffering, his journey into Hell, and his resurrection. The story has the weight of legend to it; screams are primal when the characters yield to their suffering, and dialogue may not always be natural, but it feels at times as though recounted in a myth, spoken by bards and shamans. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is a film filled with music, an embodiment of Hess' culture and mindset, setting the tone for scenes as a score should. The film is a remake of Ganja and Hess; an interpretive dance number opens Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, which is fitting as any good remake is also an interpretation, and is the beginning of one retelling of a legend, into another, as eternal as love and blood.
Recommended for: Fans of a horror and love story about a man who is challenged by his addictions and faith. It is a unique perspective for the genre, and one which possesses a unique identity among its counterparts, based on the plot, characters, and overall setting. Rarely predictable, it moves to its own jazzy groove.
When Hess meets Ganja--his valet, Seneschal (Rami Malek) drives her to his home, begrudgingly attending to her demands--she is abrasive, even rude, but she attracts Hess' attention all the same. Although Ganja is very beautiful, it is more likely that her proclamation to always tell the truth makes her serve as a kind of confessional for Hess, a source through whom he can reveal his secret, and hope to be understood. Their affair begins amid a conversation about forbidden fruit, and Hess' days become brighter as their romance blossoms. But one morning, as Ganja eats fruit during their breakfast, she bites into some cherries, and seductively lets the juice run down her chin--blood-like--which reminds Hess that his addiction is eternal in but one look. The blood disease Hess suffers is one he recalls to Lafayette upon discovery of the ancient dagger, describing that Ashanti legend holds that a queen took the blood of her strongest warriors to bolster her, and Hess infers this to describe advanced blood transfusion techniques. He goes on to describe that their kingdom was destroyed from within by a terrible blood disease, causing rampant anemia. Hess secretly visits a clinic under an alias, and gets tested for HIV, drawing a direct parallel between the vampirism and the auto-immune disease virus, as well as the stigmas associated with it. Does Hess bring Ganja into his world out of love--turning her likewise into a vampire on their wedding night--for the need for an accomplice, an enabler? Further, is Hess such a mastermind that he has even propagated this romance to this end? He certainly arranges events with his ex-girlfriend Tangier (Naté Bova) to awaken the darkness in Ganja; is this to help her reach acceptance of who she has become, or to ease his guilt about his own addiction? Ganja comments to Hess that she is always cold now, while they sit in their living room, somehow frigid in spite of the fire in the hearth; the scene is shot coldly, and the dialogue is even cool. Compare this with the following scene at the church, lit warmly, vibrant with community and song, as Hess still sits in the far back, observing--desperately seeking to reclaim his faith and good graces with God. It is somewhat ironic that Da Sweet Blood of Jesus was crowdsourced on Kickstarter, further cementing the significance of community in the overall scope of the film. Although the film avoids some notable cliche tropes of vampire films--and pokes fun at others, such as when Hess asks to be invited inside--there is still the significance in the "shadow of the cross", a reminder of Jesus' suffering, his journey into Hell, and his resurrection. The story has the weight of legend to it; screams are primal when the characters yield to their suffering, and dialogue may not always be natural, but it feels at times as though recounted in a myth, spoken by bards and shamans. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is a film filled with music, an embodiment of Hess' culture and mindset, setting the tone for scenes as a score should. The film is a remake of Ganja and Hess; an interpretive dance number opens Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, which is fitting as any good remake is also an interpretation, and is the beginning of one retelling of a legend, into another, as eternal as love and blood.
Recommended for: Fans of a horror and love story about a man who is challenged by his addictions and faith. It is a unique perspective for the genre, and one which possesses a unique identity among its counterparts, based on the plot, characters, and overall setting. Rarely predictable, it moves to its own jazzy groove.