Ganja & Hess

1973
18
1h 52m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

Marlene Clark and Duane Jones in Ganja & Hess (1973)

Play trailer1:39

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46 Photos

Dark Fantasy Dark Romance Drama Fantasy Horror Romance Thriller

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win total

Videos1

Trailer 1:39

Ganja & Hess

Photos46

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film was released theatrically several times by different distributors and under different titles. Initially released as "Ganja and Hess" by Kelly/Jordan Enterprises in 1973, it failed at the box-office and was then picked up by Heritage Enterprises. Heritage re-edited the film and released it under the title "Blood Couple" later that same year. This version included 15 minutes of footage not used in the original release print, despite being 33 minutes shorter overall, and was marketed as a blaxploitation film. This same cut was released to theaters by Goldstone Films as "Double Possession" in 1975.

Quotes
Dr. Hess Green: [Ganja phones looking for her missing husband and is forced to ask for a place to stay] Where are you, Mrs. Meda?
Ganja Meda: I'm at the goddamn airport, that's where I am!
Dr. Hess Green: Tell me where you are exactly, and I will send the limousine for you.
Ganja Meda: I'm standing in front of Pan American, and the driver can't miss me, cause I'm that evil.
[hangs up]

Alternate versions
Version entitled Blood Couple is heavily cut.

Connections
Edited into The Comix Scrutinizer: I Think I Need a New Doctor (2013)

Soundtracks
Bungelii Work Song
Used by permission of Folkways Records Inc.
Recorded by Musee de l'Homme

User reviews46

Featured review

7/10

Better than the average blaxploitation flick

Ganja and Hess doesn't surpass any cinematic niveaux or reinvent the art form but it is far above the standard fare afro Americans have had to tolerate as representative cinema. Something about it is just charming enough to recommend it; it is quirky and pensive but paces itself so deliberately it might well be delivered in episodes. It is a historical artifact, you will notice a multitude of 70s markers. The vampirism is not campy, the dialogue while perhaps inexpertly delivered, is not cliché or stereotyped and the cast looks good. It takes patience, nonetheless to watch and more than a little intelligence to decipher its subtexts.