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Since February is both Black History month and
Women In Horror month, two themes I wholeheartedly endorse, I always feel obliged
to talk about movies that intersect each.
Unfortunately, there aren’t as many great representations as there
should be. I tackled one of
the best, DEMON KNIGHT (I <3 Jeryline), in the early days of Schizocinema, so I settled into a Blaxploitation horror vibe for my official February picks. First came BLACULA, which I had seen and loved, so the next year I hit up the sequel, SCREAM,BLACULA, SCREAM (not quite as good). While BLACULA is an
excellent and surprisingly romantic film, William Marshall is such a powerful
presence that Vonetta McGee’s character gets overshadowed. Even the mighty Pam
Grier plays it a little subdued in the sequel. Both
characters were well drawn and fitting to the tragic romance of BLACULA, but they
weren’t the feisty asskickers I had hoped for.
So I wasn’t feeling overly optimistic about giving another
Blaxploitation horror flick, Paul Maslansky’s SUGAR HILL, a first time
spin. I'm happy to say that this time, it's the leading lady that casts the biggest shadow.
The Capsule:
Diana “Sugar” Hill (Marki Bey) has a good thing going
running a voodoo themed lounge with her boyfriend, Langston (Robert Quarry). The good times end when Morgan (Richard
Lawson), the local racist mob boss, gets designs for the club. When Langston refuses to sell, Morgan’s goons
beat him to death and leave him for Sugar to find. Bad move, chumps, because Sugar uses her
voodoo connections to summon Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley), the Lord of the
Dead, in order make the gangsters pay.
Soon, Morgan’s goons are dropping like chess pieces as Sugar maneuvers
the top man right where she wants him.
Will Sugar’s ex lover cop, Valentine (Richard Lawson) figure things out
before Sugar gets her ultimate vengeance?
SUGAR HILL is most famous for its silver, bug eyed zombies,
but what it really should be known for is its star, Marki Bey. The fact that Bey didn’t go one to the same
success as Pam Grier is more criminal than anything committed in this
movie. She’d only appeared in a handful
of movies before this, and after a few years in television (Charlie’s Angels,
Starsky and Hutch, and the like), she left acting altogether.
This makes me weep, because Bey is absolutely badass as Sugar Hill. 
Sugar is a force of nature right from the start. She’s the kind of character who gets it all
done with attitude, confidence, and cunning.
Plus an army of zombies, but they are only a means to an end. She is sexy without being objectified, and doesn't rely on seduction to get what she wants, a
trope that was highly leaned on in Blaxplotation/Exploitation cinema at the
time. Every major character, including
Barron Samedi, underestimates her, which she ruthlessly uses to her
advantage. The scenes were she boldly
negotiates business with Morgan, brushing off his heavy handed intimidation and
shutting him down when he extends himself too far, are delicious. If that crew wasn’t a bunch of racist
dirtbags, you would feel sorry for them.
They have no idea what they are getting into.
Sugar is a fascinating, unconventional lead. Brimming with righteous satisfaction at every turn of the screw, she is driven less by vengeance than by a brutal social justice. Langston's death may have set her down this path, but it feels more like an excuse than an ultimate motivation. She certainly isn't so broken up about the loss
of her lover that she can’t flirt with her ex, Valentine. Like BLACULA’s Prince Mamuwalde, Sugar is
technically the villain, making a deal with the devil to punish those who
wronged her, but she always has our sympathy.
Her fury only extends to those who deserve it. When Valentine’s investigation gets too close
to the truth, Baron Samedi wants to kill him, but Sugar insists on arranging a
painless “accident” to keep him out of the action. Sugar isn't power mad, she's just pissed off.
Marki Bey isn't the only one with a juicy role. Don Pedro Colley gets to sink his gold capped teeth in as the flamboyant Lord of the Dead, Baron Samedi. He gets a surprising amount of screen time, too. When Sugar first summons Samedi, I
expected him to just hand out a few zombies and only return at the end of the
movie to collect his debt (noteworthy, he prefers to be paid in hoochie rather
than souls). Samedi, however, is not
about to be sidelined to the netherworld and miss all the fun. He inserts himself front and center at each
of Sugar’s traps, either as a disguised bystander smiling on, or as an active
participant in the vengeance. My
favorite is when he pulls up in a cab to drive one of the hoods to his
impending fate, making foreboding chitchat with the unsuspecting dope the whole way. Samedi is a hands-on boogyman.
We all know where this kind of story is going. You can’t make a deal with the devil without
eventually having to pay your due. Karma always comes around, even to the most justified (again, see BLACULA). Well, surprise suckers, because Sugar skates
out scot-free at the end of this one. Once the last
slimeball is crossed off Sugar’s list, the Baron does demand payment for his
service. However, instead of giving her
hand to Samedi, she instead offers up Morgan’s deplorable girlfriend, Celeste
(Betty Anne Rees), to be his zombie bride.
Samedi happily accepts, hauling the screaming hussy down to the underworld. Yes, it does play into the old stereotype of
the lusty black stud with an eye for the white woman, but I got the feeling
Samedi was so impressed with Sugar that he was happy to let her off the hook. I kept expecting the director to sneak in
some moralistic consequence, but nope, Sugar makes it out without an ounce of
comeuppance. She even gets to keep Samedi's voodoo daddy cane. I’d like to think she went
on to be the venerated voodoo queen who wronged women seek out to balance the scales,
giving the Baron a little wink whenever she summons him up for a job.
Like all Blaxploitation, especially one directed by the
white dude who made the POLICE ACADEMY movies, SUGAR HILL has its share
of problematic issues. It is certainly not a realistic look at Haitian religion, but what movie was in those--or even these--days? It is also cheap and hokey as hell (lightning and thunder effects during broad daylight was a bold choice). However, Bey’s
fierce and uncompromising leading woman and the movie’s consistently fun tone balance
things out. And sometimes, you just want
to see a badass woman toss a creep’s money in his face and bury him in a coffin
full of snakes.
C Chaka
