The anemic Blacula (William Crane, 1972) was the first blaxploitation film to draw blood. But novelist and playwright Bill Gunn was after a different version of vampirism, one that would stake out the heart of addiction and desire. Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones of Night of the Living Dead fame), an archaeological curator, lives a contemplative life filled with old books, classical music, and fine wine. He is studying the ancient Myrthians, an African civilization that had a peculiar taste for blood. Accosted by his assistant, George Meda (Bill Gunn), Hess is stabbed with a cursed Myrthian dagger and from this wound develops a crimson thirst. The elegant Ganja (Marlene Clark) is seduced by his sanguinary appeal, and it is she who soon comes to embody the erotic power of a life-without-end. African mythology, fundamentalist Christianity, and Western art are the I.V. feeding the rich veins of lust and immortality. Fear not, Ganja & Hess has risen from the grave.