Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
| Da Sweet Blood of Jesus | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Spike Lee |
| Produced by | Spike Lee Chiz Schultz |
| Written by | Spike Lee Bill Gunn |
| Starring |
Stephen Tyrone Williams Zaraah Abrahams Felicia Pearson Elvis Nolasco Naté Bova |
| Music by | Bruce Hornsby |
| Cinematography | Daniel Patterson |
| Edited by | Randy Wilkins |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Gravitas Ventures |
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Release date
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Running time
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123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,418,910 |
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is a 2014 film directed by Spike Lee about a wealthy anthropologist who is stabbed by an ancient African dagger and turned into a vampire. Lee has said the film is about "Human beings who are addicted to blood" and called it "...A new kind of love story." The film is an unofficial remake of the 1973 film Ganja and Hess (with original writer Bill Gunn receiving a credit as co-writer, along with Lee). It was the first of Lee's films to be funded through Kickstarter. The film was released on June 22, 2014 at the American Black Film Festival as the closing film. It was released in theaters and on VOD on February 13, 2015, by Gravitas Ventures.
The film opens with an unnamed dancer (Charles “Lil Buck” Riley) dancing in various locations around Brooklyn during the credit sequence.
From there, the plot follows Dr. Hess Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a wealthy African-American anthropologist and art collector who acquires a dagger originating in the ancient Ashanti Empire, a highly advanced civilization that, Green claims, became addicted to blood transfusions. That night, Lafayette Hightower (Elvis Nolasco) --an emotionally unstable colleague from the museum which acquired the dagger--, pays a visit to Green's impressive, African-art covered Martha's Vineyard mansion. The two cordially discuss history and philosophy, but once Green has retired for the evening, Hightower becomes drunk and climbs a tree with a noose, claiming he wants to commit suicide. Green successfully talks him down, but later that night Hightower attacks and stabs Green with the Ashanti ceremonial dagger, killing him. An undetermined amount of time later, Green is shocked to awaken--unscathed. He hears a gunshot and, upon discovering that Hightower has killed himself, he instinctively drinks Hightower's blood. He discovers that he is invulnerable to physical harm, can no longer tolerate normal food and drink, and has an insatiable need for more blood. Though he steals several bags of blood from a doctor's office, he quickly finds that he needs fresh victims. The first is a prostitute (Felicia Pearson) who, shockingly, reawakens--only after he has discovered that her blood is HIV-positive. After a period of tension, it is determined that he has not contracted the virus.
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Wikipedia