Throwback: Remembering Chico Ejiro’s Blood Money (1997)

For this week’s throwback, we’ll revisit Chico Ejiro’s 1997 hit film…Blood Money.

Blood Money: The Vulture Men, also known as just Blood Money, is a 1997 Nigerian film directed by Chico Ejiro and produced by Ojiofor Ezeanyaeche.

The film featured Kanayo O. Kanayo, Zack Orji, Francis Agu, Sam Dede, Ejike Asiegbu and a host of other exceptional talents. It was released in 1997 as a commercial success, making it OJ Productions’ “first big hit”

Mike, (Zack Orji) gets reunited with former schoolmate and police chief; Collins (Kanayo O. Kanayo), who has since become a millionaire profiting off organ trade. This is after Mike had gotten scammed by his bank manager.

Collins somehow convinces Mike to become a fellow member of the secret cult known as the Vultures. The leader of the cult known as the “Great Vulture” promises Mike instant wealth.

At the Great Vulture’s command, Mike kidnaps a child who is then used to accelerate money making for Mike.

Things soon turn sour between Mike and Collins when it is found out that the child is Chief Collins’ only son, thus his kidnapping creates a rift between the two men. Years later, the Great Vulture demands a blood sacrifice from Mike, who delays this by offering his wife and mother instead.

In an Article for Africa Today, John C. McCall described Blood Money as a “melodramatic morality tale focused on the cult phenomenon familiar to most Nigerians” (of “money cults” and “money medicine” or ogwu ego) and “a useful distillation of cultural themes and knowledge similar to how The Godfather would be a useful introduction to organized crime in the United States”