This film is currently unavailable
Blood of Jesus
Spencer Williams feverish melodrama about a woman’s flirtation with Satan was independently produced out of Texas with an amateur cast and a budget of $5,000.
Director: Spencer Williams
Overview
Spencer Williams became one of the most important black filmmakers of the 1940s with this feverish melodrama, independently produced out of Texas with an amateur cast and a budget of $5,000. A fiery baptismal drama about a woman’s flirtation with the ways of Satan following a rendezvous at the Crossroads, The Blood of Jesus is an intense and provocative experience.
Something of an auteur, Williams wrote, produced, directed and starred in the film which struck an instant chord with black American audiences. Its pungent power made it a hit with church audiences during the 1940s and its visually arresting imagery has inspired a generation of later black filmmakers, including Julie Dash and Spike Lee. Thought lost for many years, the film was rediscovered in the 1980s, leading to its reappraisal by critics such as J. Hoberman of the Village Voice, who called it “a masterpiece of folk cinema that has scarcely lost its power to astonish.” It became the first ‘race’ film (an early form of black American cinema) to be added to the U.S. National Film Registry.
brief bloody images
Related
Barrio Boy Barrio Boy
Romance 2022 83 mins Director: Dennis Shinners
A Latino barber embarks on an erotically charged odyssey of self-discovery over one hot summer in Brooklyn.
Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Tim Mielants
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.
Rafiki Rafiki
Drama 2018 83 mins Director: Wanuri Kahiu
Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiu’s neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.
Who We Love Who We Love
Drama 2021 94 mins Director: Graham Cantwell
Bullied for her sexuality, Dublin schoolgirl Lily turns to her gay best friend for support in this vibrant coming-out, coming-of-age drama.
2073 2073
Documentary 2024 83 mins Director: Asif Kapadia
Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia's unsettling drama-documentary delivers a powerful commentary on the state of the world today… and tomorrow.
Only the River Flows Only the River Flows
Crime 2023 102 mins Director: Shujun Wei
Shujun Wei's slow-burn noir draws us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.
All in Good Time All in Good Time
Comedy 2012 94 mins Director: Nigel Cole
A pair of newlyweds endure a honeymoon staying with the groom's parents in a comedy from East Is East writer Ayub Khan-Din.
Billy Liar Billy Liar
Comedy 1963 98 mins Silent Director: John Schlesinger
Tom Courtenay is the clerk whose overactive fantasies compensate for a dull provincial life, in this classic film from the British New Wave.
Birthright Birthright
Drama 1938 74 mins Silent Director: Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux directs the story of a Harvard graduate whose attempts to establish a rural school runs into opposition from both races.
Bronco Bullfrog Bronco Bullfrog
Drama 1970 87 mins Director: Barney Platts-Mills
A fascinating record of 1960s suedehead youth culture which is largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from east London
Comrades Comrades
Historical drama 1987 182 mins Director: Bill Douglas
Bill Douglas' epic story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, six Dorset labourers deported to Australia in the 1830s for forming a trade union.
The Devil Rides Out The Devil Rides Out
Horror 1968 95 mins Director: Terence Fisher
Dennis Wheatley's occult tale is given the Hammer treatment.
Barrio Boy Barrio Boy
Romance 2022 83 mins Director: Dennis Shinners
A Latino barber embarks on an erotically charged odyssey of self-discovery over one hot summer in Brooklyn.
Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Tim Mielants
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.
Rafiki Rafiki
Drama 2018 83 mins Director: Wanuri Kahiu
Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiu’s neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.
Luxor Luxor
Romance 2020 86 mins Director: Zeina Durra
Andrea Riseborough stars as an aid worker processing the trauma of working on the frontline on the Jordanian-Syrian border.
Who We Love Who We Love
Drama 2021 94 mins Director: Graham Cantwell
Bullied for her sexuality, Dublin schoolgirl Lily turns to her gay best friend for support in this vibrant coming-out, coming-of-age drama.
2073 2073
Documentary 2024 83 mins Director: Asif Kapadia
Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia's unsettling drama-documentary delivers a powerful commentary on the state of the world today… and tomorrow.