When it comes to blaxploitation horror films, the genre doesn’t get much better than Sugar Hill (1974) and I’m happy that I finally got the opportunity to see this low-budget gem a few weeks ago. The plot of Sugar Hill is rather simple and involves a beautiful and tough fashion photographer who goes by the same of Diana ‘Sugar’ Hill (Marki Bey). Sugar wants revenge on a group of ruthless mob members who killed her man in an effort to take over a popular nightclub he owned. Unfortunately for the criminals, Sugar’s man left the nightclub to her in his will and in order to take control of the club the mob is going to have to take Sugar down first, but that won’t be easy.
You see, Sugar has decided to enlist the help of a local voodoo priestess named Mama Celesete (Zara Cully) and the god of the dead who calls himself Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley). Together they raise a small army of zombie hit men to help Sugar take revenge on her man’s murderers. Of course, these aren’t just any zombies. Sugar’s undead army contains the corpses of angry ex-slaves and they have their own axe to grind with the gang of criminals, who are run by a wealthy white land owner named Morgan (Robert Quarry).
Sugar Hill doesn’t contain a lot of scary moments, but it definitely has a nice atmosphere at times and there are a couple of creepy and effective zombie scenes in the movie. The film does have a hell of a lot of attitude, a great voodoo inspired score and a terrific premise. It’s also creatively shot by director Paul Maslansky and cinematographer Robert C. Jessup.
As entertaining as the movie is, the real reason to watch Sugar Hill is to see Marki Bey’s truly terrific turn as Sugar. Bey delivers a powerful performance in the film that’s impossible to forget. She also gets to wear some really stunning ’70s style fashions that would make Diana Ross envious. I had seen Marki Bey in a few other roles such as Lanie in Hal Ashby’s film The Landlord (1970) and as Officer Minnie Kaplan in numerous episodes of the television series Starsky & Hutch (1977-79), but it was wonderful to watch her carry a whole film by herself. Bey really holds the movie together and she makes Sugar a sympathetic character that you can’t help but root for and want to believe in, even if she is a little bloodthirsty.
Unfortunately, Sugar Hill was one of the last films that Marki Bey ever appeared in. She seems to have stopped acting in 1979 after her recurring role in Starsky & Hutch ended, and I haven’t been able to come across any substantial information about the actress.
Sugar Hill was produced by the infamous Samuel Z. Arkoff and released by American International Pictures (AIP). It was the only film directed by Paul Maslansky, who’s much better known for the movies he produced in the seventies such as the atmospheric horror films Castle of the Living Dead (1964) and The She-Beast (1966), as well as drive-in favorites like Race with the Devil (1975), Hard Times (1975), Damnation Alley (1977) and Circle of Iron (1978). He’s also responsible for producing all the rather forgettable Police Academy movies. It’s a shame that he didn’t make more films because he clearly shows that he has some directing skills in Sugar Hill, even if the movie is a little fractured and slow moving at times.
A rather shabby looking print of Sugar Hill was released in the UK on Region 0 PAL DVD from ILC Prime, but it’s currently out of print. You can find bootleg copies of the film on eBay from time to time, but I really wish someone would restore the movie and release it in widescreen if possible. You can also still find copies of Sugar Hillon video at Amazon. It definetly deserves to be seen by a wider audience who enjoy other blaxploitation horror films like Blackula (1972) and Abby (1974).
I recently got the chance to watch the terrific William Witney film Darktown Strutters (a.k.a. Get Down and Boogie, 1975) and really enjoyed it. Witney started directing action films and westerns in the ’30s and he’s now mostly remembered for the popular television serials he directed. One of the last films he made was the unusual biker and blaxploitation parody Darktown Strutters, which is undoubtedly one of the most surreal musical comedies made during the seventies. I’ve been interested in seeing this movie for years and I’m glad that I finally got around to watching it.
The film centers around a group of lovely ass-kicking women who ride around the Watts area of Los Angeles on their stylish customized motorbikes. When the mother of the gang’s leader Syreena (Trina Parks) goes missing, the girls find themselves running from hapless law enforcement officers, fighting off the KKK and finally taking down a fast food selling Col. Sanders clone called Louisville Cross in order to find her.
Before Syreena’s mom disappeared she was organizing the construction of an abortion clinic with financial help from Louisville Cross. Unbeknownst to anyone, Cross poses as a benefactor to the black community, but he’s really just a closeted racist who has created a bizarre machine that can clone human beings. He’s kidnapping black leaders with the help of the KKK in order to clone them, and he plans on using these clones to do his evil bidding and in turn wreck havoc on the black community.
Director William Witney uses slapstick humor and lots of cartoonish props to tell his strange tale. The film parodies many clichés found in earlier blaxploitation films, but it’s also a smart and super stylish low-budget comedy that takes a serious jab at white capitalists who often carelessly use the black community for their own good. Darktown Strutters deals with many important issues including racism, sexism, police brutality and abortion, while keeping it’s tongue firmly planted in its cheek at all times. The comedy is often surprisingly dark as well as ridiculously silly, and it’s bound to offend and surprise more than a few viewers.
Trina Parks delivers a unforgettable performance as the biker babe gang leader Syreena. The statuesque Parks stands almost 6 feet tall and it’s easy to believe that this Amazonian queen could knock the hot air out of any creep that gets in her way. The rest of the motorcycle riding ladies are also really good, but they don’t get as much screen time as Ms. Parks.
Other stand out performances include Roger E. Mosley (best known as ‘TC’ from the Magnum, P.I. television series) as the leader of a scooter riding gang who falls hard for Syreena and the great character actor Dick Miller shows up as one of the pitiful keystone cops. The film also features the musical act The Dramatics who get to perform their funky hit single “What You See Is What You Get,” while being held as prisoners in Louisville Cross’s dungeon.
One of the best things about Darktown Strutters is the amazing costume designs by Michael Nicola. I’ve seen a lot of great ‘70s style fashion in many terrific blaxploitation films such as the jaw-dropping designs in Cleopatra Jones (1973), but Nicola’s designs for Darktown Struttersare truly stunning and like most things in this unusual movie, they must be seen to be believed.
The movie is officially out-of-print, but you can still find used copies of the video version of Darktown Strutters on Amazon or selling on eBay.
My favorite Diana Ross film is coming to DVD on May 1st and I’m really looking forward to it! Mahogany (1975) is classic 1970s camp that features some of the decade’s most awe inspiring fashions and great over-the-top performances. If you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Mahogany for yourself, you’re in for a real treat and for its long time fans, all I can say is that it’s time to warm up your DVD players, butter up some popcorn and get ready to enjoy Mahogany in all it’s widescreen splendor!
Mahogany was originally supposed to be directed by the great British filmmaker Tony Richardson (The Entertainer, Tom Jones, The Loved One, etc.) but he was kicked off the picture by the powerful Motown founder and film producer Berry Gordy, who ended up directing Mahogany himself. Gordy had previously produced the highly successful and critically acclaimed film Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which also starred Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams. Creative conflicts between Diana Ross, Berry Gordy and Tony Richardson supposedly led to Richardson’s departure, but Gordy issued a statement to the press saying he was taking over directing duties because Tony Richardson “Didn’t understand the black experience.”
In Mahogany Diana Ross stars as the beautiful and ambitious Tracy. Tracy is an aspiring fashion designer and secretary, who’s slowly developing a relationship with a Chicago politician named Brian (Billy Dee Williams). After she’s spotted by the famous fashion photographer Sean McAvoy (Anthony Perkins), Tracy leaves Chicago and heads for Rome. There she meets up with representatives of the Gavina Modeling Agency, which include the lovely Carlotta Gavina (Marisa Mell) who helps Tracy transform into the supermodel and fashion maven known as Mahogany.
Critics were not kind to Mahogany when it was released. The movie was universally panned and considered a major failure. Feminists railed against the films final moments, which could be interpreted as rather old fashioned and a bit sexist. Roger Ebert called the movie “An unholy alliance between daytime soap opera and Jacqueline Susann” and Ebert was right on the money. If anyone should be familiar with Jacqueline Susann’s melodramatic writings it would be Roger Ebert, who was responsible for writing the script for Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1971). Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was based on Jacqueline Susann’s original book Valley of the Dolls, which was made into a movie in 1967 by director Mark Robson. If you’re a fan of the original Valley of the Dolls film you’re going to love Mahogany. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend watching both movies together because they would make for an incredibly entertaining double feature.
Besides starring in Mahogany, Diana Ross also designed all the fashions she is seen wearing in the film. Ross has always defended the movie and was proud of the colorful fashions she produced for it. Her performance as Mahogany is really fun to watch and she looks amazing in the film. It’s easy to believe that the renowned and talented Diva could have had an impressive career as a fashion model. The beautiful european actress Marisa Mell (Danger: Diabolik!, Perversion Story, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, etc.) also stands out in her role as Carlotta Gavina.
Billy Dee Williams (Brian’s Song, Scott Joplin, The Empire Strikes Back, etc.) is very good as the Chicago politician trying to win Mahogany’s heart, but he’s overshadowed by the totally over-the-top performance of Anthony Perkins (Psycho, Pretty Poison, The Fool Killer, etc.) as the fashion photographer who wants Mahogany all for himself. The film presented Perkins with one of his best roles and he chews up the scenery every time he’s on screen. If you keep your tongue firmly planted in your cheek while watching Mahogany and recognize it for the camp classic that it is, you’ll enjoy the movie. On the other hand, if you’re looking for sexist stereotypes, including disparaging portrayals of gay men and straight women, you’ll probably find them. Just remember to keep in mind that Mahogany was made in 1975 and it’s clearly a product of the era that it was produced in.
The new Paramount NTSC Region-1 DVD of Mahogany is available for pre-order at Amazon for only $10.99. The film is being released in widescreen for the first time and the DVD will include a Photo Gallery. It would have been nice if Paramount had gotten Diana Ross, Berry Gordy and Billy Dee to provide some commentary for the disc or had interviewed them about the film, but fans will have to make due with this rather bare-bones presentation of the movie for now.
Mahogany is a whole lot of fun to watch! Unfortunately director Berry Gordy never made another film, which I think is a shame. Whatever you might think of the plot, it’s hard to ignore the creative way Gordy captures the decadent world of high fashion in 1975.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the recent success of Parmount’s Dreamgirls probably lead to the release of Mahogany on DVD (Dreamgirls is also being released on DVD May 1st). I’m sure fans of both films will enjoy comparing the fictional Diana Ross of Dreamgirls to the fictional character Ross plays in Mahogany, but you can’t top the real thing and for my money, Mahogany is much more entertaining than Dreamgirls. Diana Ross doesn’t do any singing in Mahogany, but she did provide the theme song Do You Know Where You’re Going To?, which was a bigger success than the movie.
You can hear Diana sing Do You Know Where You’re Going To? in this brief clip from Mahogany that I came across on Youtube.
No, I’m not talking about that new over hyped Tarantino/Rodriguez flick that critics are drooling over and will no doubt be #10 on the IMDb Top 250 movie list by Monday.
Who needs phony scratches on a 50 million dollar movie when you can watch the real thing? Believe me when I tell you that there are millions of no-budget movies you’ve never seen filled with really bad actors, poorly written scripts, plenty of sex, gratuitous violence and unintentional laughs that are twice as entertaining as anything you’ll find at the multiplex this weekend.
Deadly Weapons was made by the late great Doris Wishman, who is the only woman filmmaker I know of that deserves the Trash Queen Crown. Doris Wishman made lots of sleazy films in the sixties and seventies with titles like Diary of a Nudist (1961), Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965), Another Day, Another Man (1966), My Brother’s Wife (1966) Keyholes Are for Peeping (1972) and A Night to Dismember (1983). At a time when very few women were working behind the camera, Doris Wishman was churning out sexploitation films at an impressive rate.
Doris Wishman was not a great filmmaker, but she was creative and even in her most sleazy sexploitation movies you can find interesting ideas not fully realized due to budget constraints. There’s a surreal quality to a lot of her films and most of them were dubbed, which added to their other-worldy quality. She couldn’t afford to shoot sound movies so Doris would add in the dialogue later, sometimes even using her own voice for the female characters. This style of renegade filmmaking forced Doris to waste lots of time focusing her camera on inanimate objects or in the case of Deadly Weapons, giant boobs.
Her 1974 film Deadly Weapons stars the big busted Chesty Morgan, who’s out for revenge after the mob kills her man. She goes undercover as a stripper and uses her giant boobs as “deadly weapons” to smother the murderous mob gang. Chesty Morgan stumbles through the film looking tired, confused and a bit miserable at times. The movie is supposed to be sexy, but that’s seriously open to debate.
Adult’s Only Trailer for Deadly Weapons (obviously not work safe)
The second film in my ideal grindhouse double feature is Jamaa Fanaka’s 1975 flick Welcome Home Brother Charles. I’m afraid I don’t know a lot about the director and a quick google search didn’t bring up much information. I do know that Jamaa Fanaka was born in Mississippi and created some great blaxploition flicks including Emma Mae (A.K.A. Black Sister’s Revenge, 1976) and Penitentiary (1979), as well as the utterly bizarre and highly entertaining Welcome Home Brother Charles.
In Welcome Home Brother Charles Marlo Monte plays Charles Murray, a drug dealer who was wrongly put in jail and now seeks revenge after the corrupt cops almost cut off his manhood. Unlike most blaxploitation flicks Charles doesn’t use guns, his fists or kung fu to get back at his enemies, instead he strangles them with his giant penis. Yes, you read that right. Charles uses his giant slab of man meat to choke his hapless victims to death.
If you aren’t laughing yet you will be once you watch Welcome Home Brother Charles, but the movie is not all comedy. It actually takes itself really seriously and there’s plenty of cheer inducing moments involving Charles seducing women and getting back at the white devils who are trying to bring him down. The African American actors all act circles around the white actors in the movie and Marlo Monte seems to genuinely be channeling his inner rage to portray the highly volatile Charles Murray.
Adult’s Only Trailer for Welcome Home Brother Charles
If you want to plan an entertaining grindhouse double feature to watch in the comfort of your own home I highly recommend the double dose of killer body parts that Deadly Weapons and Welcome Home Brother Charles offers. You’d be hard pressed to find a more trashy pair of flicks and both movies are available on DVD.
When it comes to blaxploitation horror films, the genre doesn’t get much better than Sugar Hill (1974) and I’m happy that I finally got the opportunity to see this low-budget gem a few weeks ago. The plot of Sugar Hill is rather simple and involves a beautiful and tough fashion photographer who goes by the same of Diana ‘Sugar’ Hill (Marki Bey). Sugar wants revenge on a group of ruthless mob members who killed her man in an effort to take over a popular nightclub he owned. Unfortunately for the criminals, Sugar’s man left the nightclub to her in his will and in order to take control of the club the mob is going to have to take Sugar down first, but that won’t be easy.
or selling on eBay.
(1975) is classic 1970s camp that features some of the decade’s most awe inspiring fashions and great over-the-top performances. If you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Mahogany for yourself, you’re in for a real treat and for its long time fans, all I can say is that it’s time to warm up your DVD players, butter up some popcorn and get ready to enjoy Mahogany in all it’s widescreen splendor!
In Mahogany Diana Ross stars as the beautiful and ambitious Tracy. Tracy is an aspiring fashion designer and secretary, who’s slowly developing a relationship with a Chicago politician named Brian (Billy Dee Williams). After she’s spotted by the famous fashion photographer Sean McAvoy (Anthony Perkins), Tracy leaves Chicago and heads for Rome. There she meets up with representatives of the Gavina Modeling Agency, which include the lovely Carlotta Gavina (Marisa Mell) who helps Tracy transform into the supermodel and fashion maven known as Mahogany.
The new Paramount NTSC Region-1 DVD of 
(1974) with the blaxploitation classic 
(A.K.A. Soul Vengeance, 1975).
The second film in my ideal grindhouse double feature is Jamaa Fanaka’s 1975 flick Welcome Home Brother Charles. I’m afraid I don’t know a lot about the director and a quick google search didn’t bring up much information. I do know that Jamaa Fanaka was born in Mississippi and created some great blaxploition flicks including Emma Mae (A.K.A. Black Sister’s Revenge, 1976) and Penitentiary (1979), as well as the utterly bizarre and highly entertaining Welcome Home Brother Charles.