6/22/2014

New Photos from Spike Lee's 'Da Sweet Blood of Jesus', Confirmed as Remake of 1973 Horror Classic

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Spike Lee's Kickstarter-funded Da Sweet Blood of Jesus debuted earlier today at ABFF and the early buzz surrounding it has been mixed, par for the course for the director's movies nowadays. He's been keeping details on it under lock and key, saying little more than it's about people "addicted to blood" but refusing to call it a vampire movie. And while some have speculated it might be a Blacula remake of some kind, the latest images, plus an update from Indiewire's Erik Kohn, shed light on the film Lee is really paying homage to.

The photos show stars Stephen Tyrone Williams and Brit actress Zaraah Abrahams, and the notable thing is what Williams is holding. It appears to be a very old dagger, and if that wasn't clue enough then Kohn's tweet spells it out....
Yep, Lee's film is a remake of Ganga & Hess, a cult classic horror film directed by the multi-talented Bill Gunn. The film centered on an archaeologist who became a vampire after being stabbed with an ancient blade by his assistant. How closely Lee sticks to the source material is unclear but these images suggest it might be very close, which only has me anticipating the film more.