OCTOBER 26, 2012 10:15AM
Z is for ... (31 Days of Halloween, Oct. 26)
ZOMBIES, WITH SUGAR ON TOP. PLUS: MOTHER JEFFERSON!
Delighting in blaxploitation horror is a tricky proposition. Nonetheless, I couldn't love the movie Blacula more, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to take in Sugar Hill and Her Zombie Hitmen (1974) this Halloween season.
As imdb poster Christopher Chase will tell you, Sugar Hill goes thus:
When her boyfriend is brutally murdered, after refusing to be shaken down by the local gangsters running their protection racket, Sugar Hill, decides not to get mad, but BAD! Calling upon the help of aged voodoo queen Mama Maitresse, Sugar entreats her to call upon Baron Zamedi, the Lord of the Dead, for help in gaining a gruesome revenge. In exchange for her soul, the Dark Master raises up a zombie army to do her bidding. The bad guys who thought they were getting away clean are about to find out that they're DEAD wrong.
If you've seen Coffy or Foxy Brown, you can pretty much guess how everything goes down. Actress Marki Bey is lovely and will charm you even as she takes her coldest, bloodiest revenge on her fiance's murder. The horror effects are naturally 1974-riffic.
You also have the standard suite of blaxploitation tropes, including evil white crime boss, a chick fight with a racist white woman, and most important of all, an awesome, funky theme song!
You can't of course excuse the misrepresentation of the Afro-diaspora religions (which I encourage you to do legitimate research on because they are fascinating), but Sugar Hill is hardly the most egregious offense. Actor Don Pedro Colley hams it up ridiculously as Voodoo loa Baron Samedi, but he won't make you forget every last Voodoo pimp/crimelord ever played by Yaphet Kotto.
Finally: to my great surprise and pleasure, Sugar's mom and zombie supplier Mama Maitresse is played by Zara Cully, who was none other than Weezie's eternal nemesis, Mother Jefferson! I have a fond love for The Jeffersons and Zara Cully was always wonderful to watch.
Z is indeed for Zara!
Comments
1974-riffic effects sound great to me, as does the theme song!
I too loved '70s
Blaxploitation movies. What them more interesting was that they were
mostly done by an all black cast and crew so there wasn't much
exploitation. Melvin Van Peebles (father of Mario Van Peebles) was one
of the biggest names in Blaxploitation cinema. My favorite was "Across
11oth Street". Yaphet Kotto at his Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss-es. R
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