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Spike Lee remade this film as Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. Not as good as the original IMO.

There were a few things I liked more in Lee’s version

Btw, I’ve STILL been on the lookout for the recut “grindhouse/Drive-in” version, Blood Couple, Which the Director disowned. It used to be on YouTube. Can’t find it there anymore.

I really like the strange upbeat vibe with the tribal/religious music and nearly every scene bathed in sun. The modern atypical vampire approach is really cool. Sometimes the music seemed repetitive (especially the 'oh hosana' one). While it was stylish I'm not sure I understand a lot of the religious symbolism embedded in the movie (maybe a longing for redemption).

How does Hess know that a cross will be fatal?

There's some interesting/obvious parallels between Hess and his assistant who killed himself - both were married to Ganja, both killed themselves, the scene with the assistant saying he had a dream that he was both the victim and the killer in a dream, their deaths juxtaposing. Maybe these are suppose to represent different aspects of the same person. I'm not sure I get that. I don't quite get that.

They truly are taking their time getting there.

Interesting take on vampirism. Not quite sure just why I thought this movie was about grave robbing...must have been thinking of another film whose title isn't springing to mind at the moment. Usually I avoid films of this length, but this one got my curiosity going, and glad that it did.

Well that was different.

Agreed, very different. Not quite my type of horror movie or what I even consider a horror movie to be.
I was really interested to watch it because I loved Duane Jones in NOTLD, but I just didn't get it.

There was a really fascinating mood to the movie. Bill Gunn was charged with making a blaxploitation vampire flick, and he turned that around into a much deeper idea, although not totally successful. I wonder what it would have been like if the filmmakers hadn't been so constrained by lack of funding.

Yesterday I also watched the commentary, as well as the alternate version Blood Couple. The commentary is highly recommended, but Blood Couple I found frustrating. The studio apparently wanted to make the movie clearer, but I found it less interesting and in the end harder to follow.

This movie has been a highlight for me. I can't say I completely understood the movie, but thought that there was a lot there to enjoy and think about. If it wasn't for the challenge, I probably still wouldn't have watched it.

Anyone else always expected something way different from this based on the title?

Marrying the man you know killed your husband. That dick must be magic.

What if Gordon Parks, Ingmar Berman & John Cassavetes got together and made a film about addiction, theology, class division, artistic integrity and racism disguised as a Blaxploitation vampire film?

One hell of a strange fascinating tale filled with symbolism and social commentary.