Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

Sugar Hill Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf June 22, 2015

Paul Maslansky is perhaps best known for producing the “Police Academy” franchise, helping to guide the series through numerous film and television incarnations, keeping the slapstick alive even to this day, with threats of a remake popping up on a yearly basis. He only directed one movie during a lengthy career, the 1974 blacksploitation effort, “Sugar Hill,” challenging his early years producing Euro horror pictures to help create one of few black-centric zombie features. As a novelty, “Sugar Hill” is acceptable, highlighting strange happenings with silver-eyed undead soldiers under the command of a woman seeking revenge for the death of her boyfriend. As an endeavor with dramatic purpose, the effort lacks gusto, with concentration on ghoulish murders pulling attention away from pace and excitement.

Diana (Marki Bey) is horrified to discover that her boyfriend, Langston (Larry D. Johnson), has been murdered by thugs working for Morgan (Robert Quarry), a crime boss looking to take control of the dead man’s nightclub. Furious but left with few options, Diana takes her pain to the wild, finding voodoo witch Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully), who facilitates a meeting with malevolent spirit Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley). Needing his power to complete her mission of revenge, Diana receives an army of zombies ready to do her bidding. Setting out to take down Morgan’s men one by one, Diana uses her innate sexuality to lure her victims out into the open, employing various voodoo tricks to make them all die slowly. While working her way up to Morgan, Diana is tailed by her ex-lover, Detective Valentine (Richard Lawson), who’s struggling to decode all the strange clues left behind at the increasingly grim crime scenes.

“Sugar Hill” isn’t a polished picture, produced quickly and on the cheap to join the blacksploitation trend that was so prevalent in the early 1970s. However, instead of becoming another urban crime thriller, Maslansky elected to follow features like “Blacula” into the horror realm, with a script by Tim Kelly heading into the deep woods to discover the wicked Baron Samedi and his army of the undead. It’s a fun premise, and “Sugar Hill” certainly doesn’t skimp on zombie attack sequences, with large sections of the film devoted to watching evil henchmen suffer as they die, facing the brutality of a machete, the hunger of a pig pen, the magic of a voodoo doll, and the poison of a coffin filled with snakes. There’s even a moment where one baddie receives his last deep rub at a massage parlor, with the zombies providing a most unhappy ending.

It’s a violent movie, keeping up with the times in terms of bloodshed and overt racism, with powerful white dude Morgan just not all that tolerant of his black subordinates, while his feelings for Diana are mixed at best. The protagonist has natural voodoo of her own to share, with Maslansky capturing the actress’s sex appeal, using it for misdirection purposes as Diana launches a particularly effective counterattack after Langston’s murder. Interestingly, Diana isn’t a one-woman-force in “Sugar Hill,” keeping her day job as a fashion photographer while she commands her zombie troops, allowing Baron Samedi the pleasure of murder as well in his sidekick role. “Sugar Hill” is a traditional revenge picture in some respects, but it definitely marches to the beat of its own drum, remaining idiosyncratic enough to hold attention, while certain genre turns (including an attack featuring a possessed chicken foot) add enough oddity to periodically spice up what eventually becomes a muted horror film.

The production has plenty of opportunities to crank up the nightmare, following Diana as she derives pleasure from all this pain, leading to a showdown with Morgan. The screenplay doesn’t crave the momentum, leaving the build up to the grand finale lacking in suspense, even as it indulges more zombie attacks. Appropriately, “Sugar Hill” drags along the ground at times, only really making eyes pop when it dips into weirdness (Colley is superb as the menacing Baron Samedi) or absurdity, which includes the aforementioned dancing chicken foot and a club battle between Diana and Morgan’s mistress, Celeste (Betty Anne Rees), with the pair smashing up the join while the bartender calmly takes in the view.

Sugar Hill Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) presentation delivers a semi-troubling viewing experience, with chunky grain and little HD clarity. Glamour cinematography is used extensively for Bey, offering inherent softness that stands out against sharper visuals concerning co-stars and horror happenings. Detail isn't up to snuff, but the exploration of sweaty, creased faces and decorated sets provides select highlights, and outdoor excursions into the deep woods are passable. Color is secure but unremarkable, eased along by period costuming, which delivers comfortable blues and reds, while the silver of the zombie eyes registers accurately. Delineation is satisfactory with only a few darker moments that threaten frame information. Speckling and minor scratches are detected.

Sugar Hill Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix delivers what "Sugar Hill" needs to set the mood, leading with a soundtrack cut that provides agreeable weight and depth, launching the listening experience on the right note. Dialogue exchanges are clean, only hampered by original recording limitations. Violent surges are handled well, never shredding extremes with loud reactions and gunplay (which sounds a little funny). Atmospherics are pronounced, retaining their artificiality. Hiss isn't a concern.

Sugar Hill Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Paul Maslansky.

• Interview (15:05, HD) with Charles Robinson offers an energetic conversation about "Sugar Hill," which is a movie the actor is happy to acknowledge and discuss, but isn't proud of. A jovial guy with plenty of anecdotes about his co-stars and years working in Houston, Robinson is entertaining and insightful, best when trying to hide his embarrassment over his participation in the film.

• Interview (19:02, HD) with Don Pedro digs into the actor's research on voodoo practices, where he tried to perfect a menacing, unhinged presence that would give the movie some fright -- a reaction felt at the feature's first public screening. Talk of co-stars is also included.

• Interview (14:05, HD) with Richard Lawson also works through positivity concerning co-stars, but discusses the realities of the business for black actors in the 1970s, and how blacksploitation efforts were largely created by white men. There's also a brief plug for Lawson's acting school, which he refers to as an "empowerment academy."

• Interview (16:29, HD) with Paul Maslansky is a dry chat about the production history of "Sugar Hill," where the director was given free rein to create a blacksploitation horror picture by executive producer Samuel Z. Arkoff.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:58, HD) is included.

Sugar Hill Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Sugar Hill" takes a slightly different path than most blacksploitation efforts, using more genre elements than basic cinematic confidence, but pieces remain in place, including hateful white people and black rage, giving the picture marketable elements. It has a personality and an interest in gruesome incidents, providing the viewer some bang for the buck when it comes to the zombie awakening. However, there isn't enough consistency to fuel the feature for its entire run time, and the fatigue shows. "Sugar Hill" is at its best in select moments, especially anything that emphasizes the unique visual of Diana in general mode, siccing her undead goons on enforcers who deserve their painful fates.