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Features: DVD, Special Edition, Dolby, Digital Audio
In this once-lost masterpiece of independent horror, the blade of an ancient African knife spreads a vampiric contagion to research assistant George (director Bill Gunn), whose bloodlust soon infects Dr. Hess Green (Night of the Living Dead's Duane Jones) as well. When Hess is enraptured by George's beautiful wife, Ganja (Enter the Dragon's Marlene Clark), he attempts to conceal his terrible secret... but at a high price.Intended to capitalize on the 1970s market for gothic horror films and blaxploitation, this bold, striking statement from Bill Gunn - playwright, actor, multiple threat artist - is an arthouse thriller about addiction, culture clashes, and moral redemption. Hailed as one of the great artistic achievements of modern American cinema, it was the only American film screened during Critics' Week at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival where it won a standing ovation. It was literally ahead of its time--so audacious and unique it was all but buried after being screened for years in a savagely-butchered edition. We are proud to present this exclusive DVD restoration of Bill Gunn's director's cut, including 3 minutes of footage missing from previous home video versions.System Requirements:Running Time 113 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE
Editor's Note
Writer/producer Bill Gunn's elusive African-American vampire film earned a standing ovation at the 1973 Cannes Film Fest, where it was the only American film screened that year. In brief, it tells the tale of Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), a professor who, through a strange bite he received on a trip to Africa, developed a lust for blood and the inability to age. When he is reunited with a lover, Ganja, who is dealing with the same condition, Hess begins to question his existence in this difficult way of life. Gunn combines religious and philosophical overtones with the expected violence against a thick Southern backdrop (though filmed in upstate New York). The word "vampire" is never mentioned once. Why then has this spellbinding cinematic enigma been screened so rarely and available only sporadically and in severely cut form? Is it a horror film or an "art" film? You decide.
| Features | Region 1 | | NTSC | | Full Frame - 1.33 | | Widescreen - 1.78 | | Audio:
| Dolby Digital Mono - English |
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| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 10/3/2006 |
| Running Time: 113 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1972 | | Catalog ID: 3511 | | UPC: 00014381351125 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
| Memorable Quotes| "So we got three things: some grape jelly, hominy grits, and an extension cord." |
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