Exploring Ganja and Hess
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- GoodBadFlicks goes over the history of Ganja and Hess. Directed by Bill Gunn.
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Bill Gunn still doesn't get enough credit, but everyone who's seen *Ganja and Hess* knows how brilliant he could be in his best moments. Thanks for this.
Thanks Cecil, for shining a light on this hugely underrated film, which I now definetly have to check out. Also, thanks for introducing me to Bill Gunn.
You are welcome! Gunn is something else, its such a shame Stop has only been seen by a handful of people.
Ganja and Hess is a seminal film, far ahead of its time. Thank You for the review. I haven’t seen the original cut in years. This art shows Mr. Gunns’ depth of filmmaking and he made what he thought, envisioned and felt.
Yes, Bill Gunn was way ahead of it's time. We need a director like him nowadays. Oh well, I guess I'll have to do it myself. I've got some pretty outside the box ideas.
His, not it's.
This movie is available in it's original cut to stream on Amazon Prime for anyone interested in seeing it btw
Ganja & Hess, Martin, and Herzog's Nosferatu are my three favorite vampire films.
You, sir have awesome taste in movies.
try “the transfiguration” if you haven’t already. also “vampire’s kiss.”
SALEM'S LOT original and remake
Just got thru watching this movie today after having it on my hard drive for about 6 months. It took a while for me to settle into the atmosphere of this movie in the beginning, but when Ganja appeared I felt compelled to stay focused. I almost felt like I was part of some ancient ritual or spell being casted as I watched this film. The soundtrack really takes you there
You are a true film critic and I love your videos. That is why I will continue to wait patiently for your review of Maniac Cop 3.
Thank you!
I'm not an arthouse guy but I found this exploring very interesting.
I love this film, I found out about this film on Tracker 3 torrents in the early 2000's, the film was out of print on VHS. Amazing film
Yeah, I'm grateful that it ended up getting a proper DVD release, so I can actually check it out.
Throwing a chair out a window. I like his passion.
A missed opportunity for the use of the word "defenestration"
Love your avatar picture man, my little brothers had that same toy, when they were little, now they're both 30, lol.
Brandon Page Thanks. I had it since I was 7. I'm 32 now. He really was my pal back in the day.
Before directing "Shaft", Gordon Parks Sr. adapted his autobiographical, coming-of-age novel "The Learning Tree" as a film, the first one directed by an African-American while released by a big budget studio (Warner Bros). It stars Kyle Johnson, the son of Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek).
Yeah, I actually caught that on TCM, last year, for the first time, last year. Great film, that gave a unique look into early 20th century rural life for African Americans. In the town I grew up in, & still live in, many of the older black folks here, still kept their traditions, & older ways of life, so I was lucky enough to get a first hand look into what it was like.
Brandon Page Cool. I saw the film once and sadly never again on broadcast TV, then later on DVD (you have to order it via the Internet, since it's a Made On Demand DVD), and it's riveting, poignant (I see a lot of myself in Newt Winger) and sadly relevant today.
Roy Phillips, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it, & it definitely deserves more attention. I grew up in & still reside in, a small rural town, like the one Newt lives in, & I think it's so sad that there have been so few stories of black rural life, portrayed in film.
Ganja and Hess is the movie I recently discovered last year, and very much enjoyed as a weird underrated vampire movie.
No wonder I have never heard of this movie since it was mostly buried never to see the light of day. Thank god, they restored it. Some people might not like it, but at least it exists for people to check it out.
Another excellent video. So good to see a channel focusing on pre 80s movies.
Thanks!
Yeah, I love the 80s too, & all it's amazing films, but I think some people tend to forget that there were also great films before the 80s, as well.
i LITERALLY just finished watching this two days ago
are you stalking me??
What a coincidence that this was the movie you chose to explore today, I was just talking to Chiz Schultz, the producer of the movie, this past weekend.
SteveSuper71 How did you meet him?
Very cool!
Friends in common, he was inquiring about Michael Moriarty with whom I'm friends and had known each other back in the day so I helped connect them together.
SteveSuper71 Oh, that's cool.
Cool, you also know Micheal Moriarty?! I know he's gone on to do "better" films since, but to me, he will always be the star of Troll, & The Stuff. Lol, love both those films.
Nice video - I recently saw Gunn's version of this; IMO it's among the best of the decade - one other juicy tidbit - you mention Gunn's participation in the 1954 Broadway production of The Immoralist - his co-stars in that show were James Dean and Louis Jourdan -
Thanks!
I am so happy you "Explored" this movie!!!! It is the epitome of "Ahead of it's time". It, along with "Cronos", "Interview With..." and "Byzantium", are amazing vampire movies because they're quality movies. Bill Gunn covered SO many topics in this movie, Mable(?) King was amazing as whatever kind of "Priestess" she was. It is flat out ignored as a successful fictional and properly subtle societal example of actual art through film. I love everything about this movie and it's also another reason why I don't pay attention to other movie review/discussion channels. 👍 And thanks for the cool facts!!
Miles Anthony Mabel. :)
Thanks! It's really something and even more amazing when you consider when it was made.
Ah Mabal King. I knew her mostly as Mama from "What's Happening!!!" one of my all time favorite shows.
Mine too. "What's Happening!" was originally supposed to be the TV spinoff from the film "Cooley High", the coming-of-age film based on the life experiences of writer Eric Monte (co-created "Good Times", with Michael "Lionel Jefferson" Evans) when he was a teen in Chicago. It was directed by Michael Schultz (Car Wash, Which Way is Up? and The Last Dragon).The other "Mabel" King movie I know her from is "The Wiz". Not a perfect remake (Diana Ross was miscast), but Mabel as the Wicked Witch of The West and the musical number "No Bad News" are highlights.
Roy Phillips Thank ya'!
GoodBadFlicks THAT WAS HER!? Nice!!!!
This is streaming on amazon prime. Looking forward to watching it! Thanks for the introducing me
Speaking of amazing blacksploitation, the creators of Black Dynamite are currently running a crowdfunding campaign for their next movie. There are only a few days left to fund it and they need a lot more.
Sounds like an awesome idea.
No wonder the French loved it!
The movie is lavished with New Wave and Arthouse atmosphere!
AGAIN, on your recommendation, I sought out ANOTHER long lost gem, found it, and AGAIN, I was blown away.......I loved this movie, (I actually found it uncut on UA-cam) LOVED the weirdness and couldn't get over the fact that it was filmed BEAUTIFULLY and love the fact that the d.o.p. was James E. Hinton......what a great job he did! I've always been a Duane Jones fan since NOTLD......but I've had trouble finding movies with him in it........thank you again for recommending this little known gem. BTW.......NO disrespect to SPIKE LEE as I've enjoyed most of his "joints" over the years, but, I was not surprised at his subsequent failing at re-working this classic......if anyone saw his version of "OLDBOY", the abortion he released having NO resemblance to the Park Chan-Wook MASTERPIECE......they will understand that he does best within his own original work.
:)
Duane Jones, if I'm not mistaken, only had Night of the Living Dead, & Ganja & Hess, as his only 2 acting credits.
I still like the movie(s) and I liked Duane Jones acting......he helped make GANJA & HESS and NOTLD FANTASTIC and MEMORABLE movie(s).
Actually, Brandon, he made at least one more, that starred both he and Gunn: very small, very African American arthouse, called "Losing Ground". It may not be the easiest to find, but it is so worth the search!!
I've just found it as well and am looking forward to watching it. I was so relieved to see the runtime isn't 80-something minutes!
Great video. Underrated classic!
Thank you!
I actually did a paper for my Cinema and Diversity class last year (required class) about the positive takeaways of Blaxploitation and how it is important in black film culture. I think I got a B- on it and I think it was because they disagreed with me, because they didn't offer any major criticisms of my paper. If they weren't as biased, I think I could've gotten an A on it.
I had a friend who got shafted in film school because the prick who was in charge of 2nd year admission didn't like her style.
It's pretty much like this if you want to be a filmaker it's not about technique it's about the guy who likes it
I think there is still a negative perception around Blaxspoitation, which there shouldn't be. So many black actors and black crew members rose up through the ranks there, in a time when there wasn't much black cinema at all.
Exactly. While the subject matter at times was weird, stereotypical, and ridiculous, it still gave black directors, actors, cinematographers and many other black people in the industry their chance to be at the forefront of many films to show off their talents. It was quite legendary. Just because it has exploitation in the title, people assume the worst, when that just isn't the case. For instance, Ozploitation isn't negative towards Australia and one of the first Ozploitation films (Mad Max) changed the action genre forever, as well as many filmmaking laws in the country. It's a shame because there are plenty of genuinely great Blaxploitation films like Shaft and Ganja and Hess.
Agreed man. I got nothing but respect for the blaxploitation films, & how they changed cinema, & their important role in the history of cinema.
Ganja & Hess....yes
I remember having to watch this for a film history class in film school. It unsettled me and I couldn’t put a finger on why at the time but now I can look back as a recovering alcoholic and see why.
Great movie, great video! Thank you
Thank you!
Love your vids man.
Thank you!
I’ve actually seen this many years ago at an art festival in our town Philly Cecil. I’d much rather watch this over those train wreck Madea films.
I would have loved to have seen this on the big screen. I don't get to the Philly Film Fests anymore. I think the last one I went to was in 2005.
Don't know what the Madea films have to do with Ganja & Hess
Because those bullshit Madea films represent the current form of African American mainstream film, & I think it stinks. Madea is little more than an updated mammy stereotype, there's nothing to celebrate about that characters. Tyler Perry's other crapola films are also filled with stereotypes of black folks. Just that they've been updated for the 21st century.
Chris Dooley, I agree 100%, & sounds like we would be the best of friends.
I guess I lose black points for never having seen a Madea movie.
Screw teamsters.
Weren’t they mafia goons
I have been looking for this movie forever. I heard about it in a movie book a long time ago . Cool to hear that you got a chance to see it.
another film i'll have to check out because of you, Cecil! thank you for the video and for all of your work.
Thanks for watching!
Just found out I can watch this on my Amazon Prime, and at 152 minutes it looks like its the original cut ta boot, woohoo! Thanks for sharing this film with us, I'd never even heard of it before.
Forget James Gunn, Bill is the only Gunn that matters.
this channel never disappoints me. Thank you.
You are welcome!
Good day Good Bad Flicks. I'm a filmmaker from the Philippines. I stumbled across your channel when I was looking for a copy of this film. I learned about Bill Gunn through an interview on the Criterion Channel by another very important Black American filmmaker that I love: Charles Burnett Thanks for featuring this film on your channel. Incidentally, I think the original cut is on UA-cam.
Thanks! I'm so glad this film continues to find its audience
@@GoodBadFlicks Definitely. It's unlike anything I have ever seen.
Just watched this on kanopy and had to see if I could get more info on the history. Thank you. This was enlightening.
You must do The Beast must Die, Caroline Newcliffe, peter cushing, and king willie from predator 2? Great movie, the werewolf hour!
Awesome video man! Made my birthday even better! :)
Happy birthday!
Just when you thought you couldn’t hate teamsters even more.
John ‘Juice’ Shipper i know right
I have a strong mistrust of unions in general. Where I live in my industry (construction) they really only survive thanks to getting preferential treatment for high paying construction projects over non union companies, through exclusive "union only" contracts, and through harrasment. I was working on a job building some restaurants that happened to be near a couple union halls (IBEW and I forget the other) and union officials kept harassing the crew. The tried hiring off apprentices by lying to them (they literally offered them nearly double what they actually pay apprentices of they quit immediately), blocked access to the job site, vandalized the job site, and even snuck onto the job site by pretending to be the state building inspector and demanded to see permits and licenses. When he saw some Hispanics he threatened to call ICE on them. It backfired hilariously because there was a mentally unstable US army vet there that was a friend of my boss and he chased the imposter off the job site with a hammer because he both recognized the actual inspector and recognized the imposter as a guy who handles recruiting and training apprentices at the IBEW hall.
Theres a reason that the mob was so heavily invested in the teamster and construction unions: they're laughably corrupt in the US
I just watched Horror Noire on netflix and Ganja and Hess was mentioned as a black horror classic! I can't wait to see it!
Duane Jones skipping merrily through that field of dandelions tho, yasss rise up kang!
Like that, except this one seems to be played for levity.
Isn't "Kang" part of the American White Supremacists Dialect? I'm willing to bet that you're also a trump supporter.
>"Isn’t KANG part of the American White Supremacists’ dialect?"
Do you have a source for that?
Source?
A source. I need a source. I need a reputable source that explicitly supports your argument and its conclusion. This is just proper etiquette when making claims like that online. It’s also tangential to the discussion.
Bear in mind that you can’t make normative statements from empirical evidence. Nor can you make any inferences and observations from the sources you’ve gathered. Any additional comments from you MUST be a subset of the information from the sources you’ve gathered. Correlation does not equal causation, mind you.
180k subscribers now! Great job Cecil!!!
It was 179k last week I believe.
Thanks! Slowly climbing the ladder. :)
King Suckerman is my favorite Blaxsploitation flick. Pelecanos nailed the formula.
Lets be honest though, the world could only go downhill after Blackula
Puffer Fish Watch yo mouth!
The world has gone downhill since Blackula
I was going to comment about Blackula not belonging in the list of "bad films." It's simply a good film.
Agreed, the world has gone very downhill, since Blacula, & yes, I also agree that Blacula, is not truly a bad film. Neither was it's sequel, Scream Blacula Scream, which I thought was awesome.
No one talks about Blackenstein (1973). Apparently it was awful. The guy who made it also made Black the Ripper - which was never released!
web.archive.org/web/20140703094636/dailygrindhouse.com/reviews/black-the-ripper-1975/
Looking forward to the re-release!
Thank you for reviewing "Ganja and Hess." I wanted to see this movie for the longest time (my parents would not allow me watch it back in the day). Please do a review of "Poor Pretty Eddie."
I need to watch this film. I remember as a kid in the late 70's early 80's the local tv stations would show blaxploitation films thru out the year.
Thank you for recognizing talent when you see it.
Just watch it!
Is there a good resource for looking into Blaxsploitation films?, I'm interested in the history of that film medium.
Mack Debruin pick up Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide by Josiah Howard. Great book.
Sean Brindley [][][] Awesome, I'll check it out, thanks!
Thanks for this review something I will find and watch
I'm a 30 year old African American and I'll admit, one of the struggles I never considered from my dad's generation is how hard it was to get their' rogue experimental non-commercial Blackpoitation Vampire films appreciated.
Excellent thank you so much for this.
Also you failed to mention "Slaughter" with Jim Brown (former badass of the Cleveland Browns), and "Slaughter's Big Rip-Off" as the follow-up. Some good stuff...
Duane Jones is pretty much my favorite actor although he did not playing many movies his command of presence is second to none
Duane Jones running through the field triumphantly 11:35
Duane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for this informative, profound piece. You always go above and beyond, but this is a masterpiece. Thanks GBF!
I’ve seen this movie for English lecture class.
11:33 is awesome
What a story behind this film.
Ganja & Hess soundtrack- 4/21/18 contact your local record store to make sure they stock this
I bet the real-estate agent was fired when that production wrapped! Have you ever seen what a film crew does to a house!? Even a small one. And if they weren't shooting with the right insurance... that place would have been destroyed.
Best good bad
Wow fascinating I'm glad to check this out today
11:25 Wow that sounds similar to another director/ studio mishap of recent. 😉
Which one ?
chris banks Warner Butcher, I mean Bros.
Ha, you don't mean Fan4stic?
Thread Bomb That too.
I remember the Kick-started story.
Since you explored this film, will you explore The Wiz soon?
Hey Cecil have you ever thought of exploring classics like bullet or the movie I'd really like for ya to do Le Mans!!
Oh & review Sugar Hill, too if you can. The 70s zombie film, of course, not the 1993 Wesley Snipes flick.
V8 - it's hell onna Brother.
Spike Lee’s the sweet blood of Jesus was a remake of this?
Yes!
This film is totally insane. Especially for the time. But it didn't connect with me.
just a suggestion for a future video...I recently watched a horror film called Megan is missing.
Now I can only warn you the acting is awful and its not written well, but I am very intrigued to find out your thoughts on this film. I wouldn't highly rate it but for some reason, the ending has stuck with me and will probably stay with me for some time.
Wow! Fucking teamsters yo! 🤨
Thanks for featuring Ganja and Hess. Always thought it was way better than Blackula!
Thanks for watching!
4:19-4:33 Wow...just...WOW
She (Mabel King as the Queen of Myrthia) was able to convey so much without saying a word.
I have Shaft and JD's Revenge.
Nicely done but why do you consider it a "bad flick"?
When did I say it was bad?
Ganja & Hess sounds like a stoner comedy about two detectives.
Spike Lee wishes he was Quentin Tarantino but he can't do it.
Yeah the dirty bath water would get me retching too. People who don’t shower before getting in the pool are even worse. Chlorine is not meant to be used that way. Spread your butt cheeks and wash head to toe. Also any life guards reading, grow a pair and turn those dry disgusting mothers around and back to the locker rooms.
You guys need to do a vid for Fallen (1998)
Can you do mutant from film ventures with wings Hauser
Just found this channel by accident recenlty, now i'm on a binge. Send help.
Can you look at a Killer Snake Movie call King Cobra PS can you look at a Cartoon Show call Inhumanoids ?
You can see the influence of this film on Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.
CLASSIC
First, you are absolutely one of my favorite YT channels. That said, (and just my personal opinion), you've been getting a little too obscure with picks for the "exploring" videos lately. Not that I didn't find this one interesting, but didn't look at it until today. I usually check your channel every day and watch anything new immediately. Just my 2 cents :)
Let's be honest, Blacula has to be the greatest movie title in history.
Exploring Maniac 1980
Great vid!
Thanks!
Apparently Spike Lee's remake didn't scare off studio backers enough not to finance his remake of Oldboy, which coincidentally critics and audiences also said sucked, added nothing good to the original and took away all the good stuff. Lol. What will he remake next??
Cecil, could you do an exploring on Abby, The Wiz, or Def By Temptation? Well, all 3 if you can. I think Abby needs to be discovered by new generations & appreciated for what it is, rather than just being labeled "the black exorcist".
Can you do a review of the Four Original Batman movies (with Michael Keaton and those lousy two different actors like Val Kilmer and George Clooney that I don’t like)
far out!
Can you do The Terror Within 1&2
And they wonder why people stay at home to watch Netflix...
@5:51, gotta say that I never would have thought anything positive about racism that way.
blacula, dracula's soul brotha, lolol
tyler s Right on, right on.
Luckily a song from clipping brought to watch this amazing film. Unfortunately it also brought me to watch Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.......
wow , 0:49 . I want this poster.