Film Club Day Part Eleven

While doing a review over at Top Horror Movies Club, I discovered that today is Final Girl Film Club day. While I was at the store Saturday night, I decided to check out what was in the Redbox there. They didn't have a lot to pick from, but I did decide to go with Don't Look Up (2009). I did the review for it Top Horror Movies Club if you are interested in checking it out. I forgot to take it back so now I have my first late fee with them! Since I needed another movie to review for today, and since I haven't done a film club movie in two months, I figured why not Sugar Hill (1974)? It is the official selection after all. Lucky for me that it can be found on Instant Watch through Netflix. That came in handy since it was short notice for me.

Diana "Sugar" Hill (Marki Bey) is having a great time at her man's night club when Langston (Larry D. Johnson) is confronted by a group of guys who work for a guy named Morgan (Robert Quarry). The guys want "protection money" but Langston won't hear it. He runs them out of his club, which does worry Diana some. Later that night the thugs return to work over Langston, and do a little too good at it. They leave him in his own parking lot to be found by whoever. One of the employees finds him and alerts Diana, who rushes to his side only to find him dead. Diana does what any woman would do in her shoes, she vows revenge! Diana goes to Mama Maitresse, a voodoo priestess, and asks her for help. Mama Maitresse decides to help and hooks Diana up with Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley) who also agrees to help by giving her control over his zombies, but for a price.

Even if I didn't know what year Sugar Hill came out before I started watching it, it wouldn't have taken very long to figure it out. It doesn't take long before you get into the '70s look and feel. Within the first ten minutes you already get big hair, bad suits, funky music, and bad fight scenes. Once I got past all of that, I ended up enjoying Sugar Hill a lot. It manages to mix a few different sub genres together, like horror and blaxploitation, and even a healthy mix of revenge story. Besides this though, Sugar Hill had the right amount of weirdness to its story that kept it interesting. From the look of the zombies, to a chicken leg that manages to hop around on its own, you can't help but sit back and enjoy. One of things I didn't care for though was the way the movie was edited. Some scenes felt like they weren't finished yet before being cut away and taken into the next scene.

Not a lot for special effects. The zombies had a great look about them. With cobwebs hanging off of them, although I didn't get way since they were underground, and I loved their eyes. To make it even more interesting, they gave the zombies a little bit of a back story. Even though I was disappointed that most of the kills happen off screen, it didn't bother me much once I knew this would happen. What is implied was great all the same. Hacked to death and death by hungry hogs are just some of the deaths that get implied. It was really the acting though that got me into Sugar Hill. Marki Bey brings the right amount of sexy and cold heart in order to bring her revenge about. Don Pedro Colley was also fun to watch as a voodoo God of the undead. While his acting is a tad over the top, it fits the character so well.

I was taken aback some by the language but I just reminded myself that Sugar Hill is from a different time where views were different from what they are today, for most people anyway. I have watched plenty of horror movies from the '70s, but this one was different with its cross over genres. I can't say that I have watched a blaxploitation, or if I have it was nothing like this one. For the most part it is a new genre for me, and I have Stacie to thank for tuning me in. Sugar Hill is a different type of horror film but I had to like it because of that. Just how weird the story is, and the zombie eyes had me hooked. If you are looking for a different kind of horror film, you really should find a way to check this out. Sadly it isn't out of DVD yet, but there are other ways to find it.
3 out of 5 Makes me want a zombie army now!