This film essentially begins with a wealthy anthropologist by the name of "Dr. Hess Green" (Duane Jones) inviting his new assistant "George Meda" (Bill Gunn) to his house for dinner. During this time George, who is by his own admission "neurotic", gets exceedingly drunk and tries to kill Hess by stabbing him 3 times with an ancient African knife that has special, hidden properties. Afterwards, feeling guilty for what he had done, George subsequently kills himself. It's then that we discover that Hess was not killed and that whatever wounds he had sustained have completely healed on their own. At the same time, however, he finds that he has an unquenchable thirst for blood and because of that he then proceeds to drink his fill from the body of his dead assistant. From that point on, his life revolves around killing others so that he might live. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a highly unusual horror film in that it deviates from the usual vampire traditions in favor of a supposed African mythology centered on a ancient tribe known as "the Myrthians." It also uses certain special effects which simulate a drug-enhanced stupor to great effect as well. Even more important, in my opinion, is the fact that there are apparently several versions of this film all with different titles and running times. And while I cannot comment on any of the others, I can say that the long version of "Ganja & Hess" was quite interesting and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
Review of Ganja & Hess
