The Blood of Jesus

An atheist accidentally shoots his Baptist wife. She dies and goes to a crossroads, where the devil tries to lead her astray.

"The Blood of Jesus" was produced in Texas on a budget of $5,000. To present the afterlife, Williams used scenes from a 1911 Italian film called "L'Inferno" that depicted souls entering Heaven. A wise way to save on the very limited budget.

For years, "The Blood of Jesus" was considered a lost film until prints were discovered in the mid-1980s in a warehouse in Tyler, Texas. Although not a great film (the Satan costume is silly), it does do a nice job capturing Southern gospel culture. Many, many hymns are sung, and although they may not have changed much in the past 70 or so years, this makes for a great set piece on African-American religion practices.