In 1997, I obtained a very crucial book for my collection called Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror. Compiled by Stephen Jones as a companion piece to a BBC-TV series, the book is an alphabetical treasure trove of information for Horror fans young and old. Of course, I immediately skipped right to the "Z" section to see what was said about zombie movies and whether or not George Romero was represented with gusto (he is -- I recall photos of both Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Dead). However, there were also two hidden gems introduced to me via that chapter: Ken Wiederhorn's 1977 underwater Nazi zombie classic Shock Waves and American International's Sugar Hill.
Although it took me quite a few years (nearly 10 at least, if I remember correctly) to finally see Sugar Hill in all its Blaxploitation Horror hybrid glory -- the film is currently available on blu-ray from Kino/Lorber and on MOD DVD-R from MGM -- it definitely didn't disappoint from those early images in Barker's book!
Sugar Hill tells the story of Diana "Sugar" Hill who, mourning the murder of her club-owner boyfriend, uses Voodoo and zombies to exact her revenge on those responsible. Payback unfolds almost in the vein of something like Kill Bill as Sugar and her "zombie hit men" pick off the bad guys one by one until their boss, Morgan, gets his own comeuppance. All the while, one of Sugar's ex-flames, a detective, is hot on the trail of the mysterious voodoo killings, with all signs pointing to her.
Like all of AIP's output in the early 1970s, Sugar Hill is truly a product of its time; there's minimal production values, creepy (if not "cheesy") make-up effects, casual racism, dated costumes and hairstyles, topped off with a funky soundtrack...in short, it's just so cool! While it may not be quite on par with say, Blacula (or its sequel) or Foxy Brown, it's definitely head and shoulders above Blackenstein and Penitentiary . . . it hovers in its own sort of space which, ultimately, makes it stand out and shine.
Marki Bey (of Starsky & Hutch fame) stars as Sugar and she's great throughout; she goes from mournful lover to cool and collected business woman to puppet master dishing out punishment with ease. One of the cooler aspects of Bey's performance is whenever she's dealing with her zombies or setting up a trap for the bad guys, her long, straight hair is replaced by a crucial Afro hairstyle. Early scenes where Sugar contacts Voodoo priestess Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully from The Jeffersons) and conjures up ruler of the dead Baron Samedi (played by The Dukes of Hazzard's Don Pedro Colley) show Bey's dramatic range and she yearns for nothing but violent revenge.
Marki Bey owns the titular role of Sugar Hill
Don Pedro Colly as Baron Samedi
As Sugar's nemesis Morgan, Count Yorga himself, Robert Quarry is as excellent as he ever was in an AIP film. Quarry plays Morgan like a typical gangster bad guy seen on countless TV shows in the 70s and 80s; he knows what he wants and will stop at nothing to get it, all the while bossing around his henchmen and dumb as bricks trophy girlfriend. While it's never really made clear exactly why Morgan wants the Club Haiti (this is why Sugar's boyfriend, Langston, is murdered), Quarry still plays him straight. Since the film is set in Louisiana, Quarry affects Morgan with a bit of a Southern twang that makes him somewhat charming.
Robert Quarry, as Morgan, tries to intimidate "Sugar".
Valentine, Sugar's former beau turned police detective, is played by Scream Blacula, Scream's Richard Lawson (in one of his early roles). As the bodies start piling up, Valentine digs deeper and deeper to uncover the truth behind all the voodoo murders. Lawson plays Valentine as a man with a job to do, but also with the hope of rekindling with Sugar, as he dishes "friendly" advice/banter with her about the murders and seems to implicate her role in them.
Richard Lawson as Valentine
At the helm as director is Paul Maslansky (notable producer of the Police Academy franchise), who does a serviceable job here in is sole Director credit. One of the film's weaknesses is that the revenge scenes feel a little out of place with the rest of the film; again, the change in Sugar's hairstyle for these sequences is puzzling, too. Each murder set-up feels like a vignette of sorts with Baron Samedi appearing in a sort of disguise and Sugar revealing herself in some ghoulish manner that would be right at home in an AIP-era Vincent Price picture. There's also no real ending to the film as, once all of the bad guys are dead, Baron Samedi takes his part of the brokered deal and Sugar is left all by herself in the swamp . . . with only the slightest indication that she and Valentine might get back together. There's no real wrap-up with the Club Haiti either or any resolution to the murders on the police side.
Zara Cully as Mama Matriesse
The real reason to check out this movie though is, of course, the zombies themselves. They look cool all covered in cobwebs and white/gray blue paint that accentuates their muscular structure. The only odd thing is their silver, ping pong ball eyes . . . hey, two out of three ain't bad, right? Since these aren't the Romero type of zombie, these hit men uses tools and don't eat their victims -- but they do quite a few numbers on Morgan's hapless henchmen including decapitation, stabbing, strangling, and window-smashing! Granted, on blu-ray and DVD, I'm sure the cleaned up picture quality probably isn't doing the zombie special make-up effects any favors, but this is an easy pothole to overlook. There are also some cool makeups on the dead bad guys when they show up in the last real as re-animated corpses themselves!
They're coming to get you, Morgan!
Morgan's dead henchmen return!
In the end though, Sugar Hill is an enjoyable -- if not underrated -- entry in the early 1970s Blaxploitation subgenre. It's got everything where it counts and deserves to be seen by more people!
No comments:
Post a Comment