Verdict
Summary
A mixture of grindhouse crime and supernatural horror, Sugar Hill is a pretty effective gumbo with shocking (but still fun) scary stuff and the sort of blaxploitation elements you’d expect to see in something such as this. Star Bey is in on the fun with her “I want revenge!” attitude, and the plentiful zombie action is a hoot too with wildly creative makeup effects with undead specters wielding machetes and crazy looking silver orbs on their eyes, making them look like zombie aliens. I had fun with this one, and at a cool 91 minutes, the film flies by.
Plot:
A woman makes a deal with a supernatural being to get revenge on the murder of her fiancé.
Review:
“Sugar” Hill (Marki Bey) couldn’t be happier: Her fiancé (Larry Don Johnson) is the proud owner of a hip nightclub called Club Haiti, which, unfortunately, is desired by a local kingpin, who sees it as the perfect spot to peddle his drugs. When her fiancé refuses the buyout, Sugar is crushed to her very soul when the gangsters mercilessly murder him just outside the club. Reeling with grief, although now she’s the sole owner of the club, she seeks out a local voodoo priestess (Zara Cully), who insists that she’s retired from conjuring spirits, but she relents and takes Sugar to the bayou to perform a ritual that ultimately conjures a powerful spirit, the cackling Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley) who agrees to help Sugar get revenge … at the cost of her very soul, which she deems worthless without her true love. Now armed with an arsenal of undead zombies at her beck and call, Sugar can charm the kingpin and his men (and his racist girlfriend who hates her for being black and hotter than she is) and unleash her army of zombies on them all!
A mixture of grindhouse crime and supernatural horror, Sugar Hill is a pretty effective gumbo with shocking (but still fun) scary stuff and the sort of blaxploitation elements you’d expect to see in something such as this. Star Bey is in on the fun with her “I want revenge!” attitude, and the plentiful zombie action is a hoot too with wildly creative makeup effects with undead specters wielding machetes and crazy looking silver orbs on their eyes, making them look like zombie aliens. I had fun with this one, and at a cool 91 minutes, the film flies by. From director Paul Maslansky, this one is a keeper.
Kino Lorber’s newly reissued Blu-ray edition of Sugar Hill comes as part of their “Kino Cult” line (#32 on the spine), and has two audio commentaries – one with the director and one with three film historians – plus a set of interviews with cast and crew, the trailer, radio spots, and a slipcover. The high definition transfer is perfectly adequate.
