Sometimes it isn't zombies or vampires or even the fear of going crazy that scares you. Sometimes religion scares you. Have you ever been in church and the preacher just keeps going on about how every little thing will send you to Hell because God has time to watch in on every person during every second of every day? That can scare you as a child, that can scare some adults.The 1941 film Blood of Jesus plays on that fear. The film was also released under the name of The Glory Road. Before blaxploitation became popular in America there was a genre of films simply called race films. These films were written, directed, filmed and starred entirely black cast and crew members. Between 1915 and 1952 hundreds of these films were made. When World War II began it also opened the doors in Hollywood for black actors to receive serious roles and race films vanished almost over night. Despite that, they still managed to help launch the careers of many black film makes who went on to become famous for roles in sitcoms and films.
In the case of this film it was written, directed and costarred Spencer Williams who is best known for his role as Andy in the sitcom Amos 'n Andy. The rest of the cast is made up of many people who didn't go on to have any major roles afterwards or were members of the church looking to help make a statement film.
The story centers around Martha Ann Jackson, played by Cathryn Caviness, who recently got married to Williams' character Ras Jackson. The film begins as Martha is baptized and the small town is there to see as she and others give their life to Christ. The problem is her husband Ras isn't there because he's out stealing hogs from neighbors although he claims to be hunting. When Martha arrives home Ras drops his gun and accidentally shoots her.
An Angel takes Martha to the crossroads between heaven and Hell. Meanwhile her husband finds religion and prays with the church for Martha to come home. Martha is taken to a nightclub by Judas and has a lot of fun there. Judas says that he can get her a job working there if it'll make her happy. The angel comes back and tells Martha that Judas is working for Satan and warns her the club is dangerous. A group of men begin telling others that Martha robbed them and she flees.
She makes it back to the crossroads and falls before a crucified Jesus who tells the men they have all sinned in a comical scene. Martha is taken back to the real world to live happily ever after with her husband who has now found religion. The angel blesses the marriage and it's all good.
Now, part of me wants to rip this movie to shreds because it's just bad. It's fear mongering to lead people to religion but it's not really fear. They made Club Hell look like it was the place to be. There were live musicians, acrobats and dancers. It was great. We didn't see any of the other side that looked wonderful. The acting wasn't all that great and there were some attempts at special effects that are just comical by today's standards.
There is nothing scary about this movie. There is nothing that makes it a great film. It's important because it helped launch the career of Spencer Williams who went on to do a ground breaking sitcom with black leads. Other than that, there's no enjoyment in this film. At least for me, I didn't get any from it. Personally I feel like you should just skip this one unless you're some kind of film historian or you're writing a thesis on religion and film.
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