Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Bumpy Chip
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Francene Odetta
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
John Seal
This film has been slaughtered by the critics and IMDb voters, so maybe I'm just feeling the need to play Devil's Advocate - but I don't think so. A remake of Ganja and Hess, this is one of Spike Lee's most cinematic of films, carefully lensed, well scored (albeit with music that reminded me of Love, American Style - maybe that's the point), and intelligently acted. It's the antithesis, in fact, of his previous film, Red Hook Summer, which had its good points but ultimately looked like a student film. I found Da Sweet Blood of Jesus hugely entertaining and thoroughly engaging - and c'mon, how can you dislike a film dedicated to the memory of Christopher Lee, or one so clearly in debt to the works of Jean Rollin?
LeonLouisRicci
In this Independent, Kick-Starter Film there is much "Blackness", Typical of Spike Lee. From the Opening Non-Sequitur of Free-Style "Dancing' in the the Streets" to all of the Black Heritage with Culture Wall Hangings and "Revival Meeting" Church Whailings, there is "Blackness" Everywhere.Even the Borderline Blasphemous (with context to the Film) Title is "Black Speak". The Film, a Remake of a 1972 "Blaxploitation" Called "Ganja and Hess", is the Story of an Upper-Class Blood Licker. It's a Beautifully Shot, Mess of a Story about, one Guesses, Addiction. But Who Knows? The Movie is so Everywhere the Message gets Lost somewhere between the Soft-Porn and the Awful Acting.The Film's Ambiguity Sparks Over Analysis. Truth be Told the Movie is Visually Arresting and Not Much Else. It's Different, certainly Not for Everyone, and is somewhat Engaging, but the Pace and the Script are so Slow and Uninteresting that there is Never any real Connection Between the Audience and the Screen. It's Voyeuristic and Self-Indulegent, even more so than usual for the Director, to a Fault.Overall, Recommended for Art-House Patrons, Spike Lee Check-Listers, and Seekers of Off-Beat and Midnight Type Movies. There is an Artist at Work here, and like All Artists, Not Every Work is a Masterpiece.
gavin6942
Dr. Hess Green becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient African artifact and is overwhelmed with a new-found thirst for blood.Spike Lee has made a very strange film here. Maybe because it was based on another film that happens to be rather strange ("Ganja and Hess") or maybe because it was filmed with a low budget and short on time, with relatively unknown actors... but there is something decidedly off about the picture.Like the original, there is an ongoing metaphor about addiction. The main character is not a vampire in the traditional sense, despite an unquenchable thirst for blood. He expresses that many (perhaps most) people have addictions... drugs, money, alcohol, women... his is just different.The Jesus parallel is played up from the original. There is indeed something strange about a man (Jesus) who asks his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Christians, of course, do not find it strange. And that makes the parallel interesting... why do we recoil at one man's thirst for blood and yet look forward to drinking blood each Sunday without thinking anything of it?
bbickley13-921-58664
A remake of a Blaxpolation film called Ganja & Hess, Dr. Green is a expert on African artifacts who after a botched murder, suicide begins a strange addiction to blood that makes him indestructible.A very strange low key indi vampire (sort of) picture. Reminds me of last years, Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch, but Mr. Lee is asking me to have a far more opened mind than Mr. Jarmush did. The premise of the movie is about an African tribe who drank blood like it was alcohol or drugs, and a doctor who begins to practice this particular custom, feeling that it's society that made this addiction stranger than all others. I did enjoy the premise of not using the Eastern European origins of what is a vampire, at the same time, Spike use this as a comp out for when people come up to him and say "your vampire film really sucks"(bad pun cause no biting went on in the movie).For the most part, I got the Impression that the film is more about addiction and how it can drive you and the people around you. I saw a movie no different than Requiem for a Dream, but the drug of choice was blood.It definitely had the feel of a Spike Lee film all over it. His signature style was all over This cheap independent production and reminded me of his recent film, Red Hook Summer and his first film She's Gotta have it. The Jazz composed score really help push the story along too. So this is what that Kickstarter campaign was all about, huh? Overall, it showed that Spike still has a foot inside true independent cinema, and it was something truly different an unexpected from the maker of Do the Right Thing. I think it has the makings of a Midnight Movie cult following. Way better than Old Boy
