Sugar Hill (aka The Zombies of Sugar Hill) is a 1974 blaxploitation movie, with horror elements, written by Tim Kelly and directed by Paul Maslansky.
Langston (Larry D. Johnson), owner of the Haiti Club, is murdered by crime lord Morgan (Robert Quarry), who wants to own the club, and his goons. His widow, Diana "Sugar" Hill (Marki Bey), vows revenge. Sugar enlists the help of elderly voodoo queen Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully), who summons Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley). Samedi raises an army of dead slaves as zombies, and under Sugar's orders, they start to kill the people responsible for Langston's murder. There's one problem, though - Sugar's ex, police lieutenant Valentine (Richard Lawson), has realized that real voodoo is involved in the murders, and suspects Sugar might be behind it.
Sugar Hill contains examples of:
- Anti-Hero: Sugar herself. Her main goal is revenge, but the guys she's after are really bad guys so we're on her side.
- The Big Easy: The movie is set in New Orleans.
- Blaxploitation
- Boisterous Bruiser: Don Pedro Colley is clearly having fun as the rambunctious Baron Samedi.
- Chroma Key: Used to make Baron Samedi materialize.
- Deal with the Devil: Baron Samedi's role in Voudoun isn't quite comparable to that of the Devil in Christianity, but Sugar offers him her soul in exchange for revenge so let's not split hairs. Played with in that having one's soul belong to Baron Samedi isn't really a price or punishment, as long as you're in his favor. Mama Maitresse is clearly looking forward to it as a reward for a lifetime of service.
- Fed to Pigs: The zombies toss O'Brien (Ed Geldart) into a pen full of pigs who haven't been fed for a week.
- Fingore: King interrogates the piano player Preacher (Big Walter Price) about the murders. When Preacher says he doesn't know anything, King smashes the piano lid on his fingers.
- Freeze-Frame Ending: The credits roll over a freeze-frame of Sugar and Mama Maitresse standing in the swamp.
- Guilt by Association Gag: When one of Sugar's targets points out that he wasn't there on the night of the murder and had nothing to do with it, Sugar, unbothered, tells him he still has to answer for all the other bad stuff he's done.
- Hollywood Voodoo: A major theme.
- Immune to Bullets: George repeatedly shoots Baron Samedi, who doesn't even react. Later, King and Morgan shoot the zombies, with similar results.
- It Has Been an Honor: Baron Samedi tells Diana it's been a pleasure working with her before saying goodbye.
- Jive Turkey: Naturally, a lot of the dialogue.
- Kick the Dog: Some of the villains are shown doing something cruel right before Sugar murders them. Tank mistreats his workers, forcing them to pay for the privilege of working for him and punching a man who complains. O'Brien appears to be an Evil Debt Collector who stomps on the fruit of a shopkeeper who can't pay up. King interrogates Preacher.
- Non-Indicative Name: You could be forgiven for assuming this movie is set in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem, or the majority-black Sugar Hill neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida, or even the Sugar Hill jazz and blues club in San Francisco. It's actually set in New Orleans, and Sugar Hill is the name of the heroine.
- Offerings to the Gods: Sugar has to fork over a necklace and a ring to get Baron Samedi to appear. As payment for raising the zombies, he also demands a new woman as his bride. Sugar gives him Morgan's girlfriend Celeste. He carries her off screaming into the swamp.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: A trademark of blaxploitation. Morgan himself is Faux Affably Evil, polite to Sugar's face, but he and his men make a living off of black suffering, and they use pretty derogatory language. His girlfriend Celeste is especially bad, and can barely contain her racist hatred.
- Quicksand Sucks: Morgan is chased by the zombies until he falls into a pit of quicksand, which just looks like water with sand dumped into it. He flails around yelling for help, slowly sinking until his face vanishes.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Most of the runtime is Sugar picking off the gangsters who killed Langston, one by one.
- Shame If Something Happened: Tank tells Sugar, "You know, you got one of the prettiest asses in town. I'd sure hate to see it kicked in for accusing people."
- Shaped Like Itself: While pretending to be attracted to George, Sugar says, "Whites are so much... whiter."
- Special Thanks: "We wish to thank the City of Houston and the State of Texas for their cooperation."
- Stealth Pun: In one scene, Baron Samedi appears as a bartender, and offers a doomed patron "a drink I'm famous for: the zombie
". - Swamps Are Evil: Well, scary, at least. It's in the swamp that Sugar first meets the Baron, and from the swamp that he raises the zombies that are to be the instruments of her revenge.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Valentine. He's trying to solve the murders, which puts him at odds with Sugar, but we still like him. So does Sugar.
- Uncle Tomfoolery: Used to effect. The sole black character among the evil gangsters acts like something out of an old minstrel show, and is even seen shining the shoes of the white villains in one scene.
- Voodoo Doll: Sugar kills George by setting his doll on fire, compelling him to stab himself. She also has the zombies pin King up against the wall while she slashes at his doll with a razor, causing bleeding gashes to open up on his body. When Sugar tells Baron Samedi to put Valentine out of commission but not kill him, he sticks a pin in his doll's leg, causing him to suffer a Staircase Tumble and break his leg.
- Voodoo Zombie: The zombies in this movie, given to Sugar by Baron Samedi and obeying her orders. They're also specifically said to be the bodies of slaves who drowned while trying t
