You Can Now Watch Spike Lee's Kickstarted Movie 'Da Sweet Blood of Jesus' Online
by Andy Neuenschwander
Spike Lee has always been a groundbreaking director, but his latest film breaks new ground not because of its content, but because of its production and distribution.
Lee's new film "Da Sweet Blood of Jesus" is available to watch, right now, through Vimeo.
The movie is the first of Lee's career to be funded through Kickstarter. Like Zach Braff with "Wish I Was Here," Lee decided to forgo the usual studio partnership in order to ensure that his story would hit the screen the way he wanted it.
"I’m an Indie Filmmaker and I will always be an Indie Filmmaker," Lee wrote on the Kickstarter page for the film. "Indie Filmmakers are always in search of financing because their work, their vision sometimes does not coincide with Studio Pictures."
It's a strategy that's out of the ordinary for Hollywood, but the movie itself is out of the ordinary as far as Lee's filmography goes as well. Lee took a risk with this project and decided to go genre, which might explain why he didn't want to have to sell a project so different from any he's ever done to a studio.
"Da Sweet Blood of Jesus" is a remake of sorts of the 1973 genre film "Ganja and Hess," which stands somewhere on the edge of blaxploitation and horror. The movie centers on Dr. Hess Greene, who is stabbed by a cursed African dagger and wakes up later, unharmed but suddenly craving human blood.
As a horror film it works well, but the real message here is a much more complicated one on the subject of what it is to be black in America. Added in is a good deal of commentary about organized religion as well, which serves as yet another reason why Lee's decision to go Kickstarter-only may have been a good idea...studios tend to not want to touch projects that mock religion out of fear of alienating large segments of their potential audience.
With the success of "The Interview" on Video On Demand, Lee could find himself with a commercial success, albeit on an indie level, on his hands. If that happens, it's not just good news for Spike Lee fans; it's good news for movie lovers everywhere.