Pleading the Blood

The definitive look at one of the most important Black art films and original filmmakers of the 1970s.

Bill Gunn''s Ganja & Hess (1973) has across the decades attained a sizable cult following among African American cinema devotees, art house aficionados, and horror fans, thanks to its formal complexity and rich allegory. Pleading the Blood is the first full-length study of this cult classic.

Ganja & Hess was withdrawn almost immediately after its New York premiere by its distributor because Gunn''s poetic re-fashioning of the vampire genre allegedly failed to satisfy the firm''s desire for a by-the-numbers blaxploitation horror flick for quick sell-off in the urban market. Its current status as one of the classic works of African American cinema has recently been confirmed by the Blu-ray release of its restored version, by its continued success in screenings at repertory houses, museums, and universities, and by an official remake, Da Swe