Sugar Hill (1974 film) - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

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Sugar Hill is a 1974 American horror blaxploitation zombie film released by AIP. It starred Marki Bey as the title character who uses voodoo to get revenge on the people responsible for her boyfriend's death. The zombies in this film more closely resemble the creatures of voodoo legend - i.e., the walking dead who do the bidding of a human master - than the flesh-eating "living dead" ghouls popularized by George A. Romero. According to the film, the zombies are the preserved bodies of slaves brought to the United States from Guinea. American International Pictures had previously combined the horror and blaxploitation genres with Blacula (1972) and its sequel, Scream Blacula Scream (1973).

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Plot

The story centers on Diana "Sugar" Hill (Bey), a photographer whose boyfriend, nightclub owner Langston (Larry D. Johnson), has been killed by mob boss Morgan (Robert Quarry) and his men when he refused to sell the club to Morgan. Sugar seeks the help of a former voodoo queen named Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully) to take revenge on Morgan and his thugs. Mama summons the voodoo lord of the dead, Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley), who enlists his army of zombies to destroy the men who killed Langston and now want the club. Investigating the killings is Sugar's former boyfriend, police Lt. Valentine (Richard Lawson).

Cast

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Marki Bey as Diana Hill

Robert Quarry as Morgan

Don Pedro Colley as Baron Samedi

Betty Anne Rees as Celeste

Richard Lawson as Valentine

Zara Cully as Mama Maitresse

Charles P. Robinson as Fabulous

Larry D. Johnson as Langston

Rick Hagood as Tank Watson

Ed Geldart as O'Brien

Albert J. Baker as George

Raymond E. Simpson, III as King

Thomas C. Carroll as Baker

Big Walter Price as Preacher

Charles Krohn as Captain Merrill

J. Randall Bell as Parkhurst

Peter Harrell, III as Police Photographer

Judy Hanson as Masseuse

Gary W. Chason as Lab Technician

Roy L. Downey as Stevedore

Garrett Scales as Crew Chief

John E. Scarborough as Uniformed Cop

Production

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The film, budgeted at $350,000, was shot on location in Houston at such locations as the Heights branch of the Houston Public Library (a historical landmark), used in the film as a "Voodoo Institute". Sugar Hill was the last film Quarry did for AIP, after a run that included the Count Yorga movies. Also appearing in the film was Cully, who played Mama Jefferson on the TV show The Jeffersons. Charles P. Robinson, known for his role as Mac Robinson on NBC's Night Court, portrayed the character of Fabulous. Hank Edds created the makeup effects for the zombies in the film.

Release

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The film was released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures in February 1974. It was cut to 83 minutes for television and retitled The Zombies of Sugar Hill.

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The film was released on VHS by Orion Home Video in 1996., and on DVD in October 2011 as part of MGM's Limited Edition series.

Reception

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Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle called it "a humorously dated blaxploitation feature" whose zombies "represent a throwback to the classic zombie conceptualization of the '30s and '40s". Adam Tyner of DVD Talk rated it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Creepy, sexy, sleazy, and a borderline-surreal amount of fun, Sugar Hill is a perfect movie for a Halloween marathon and probably my single favorite blaxploitation flick, period".