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Thanks to a friend I used to work with at a local video store, we had weekend contests to see who could find the Most Gawd-Awful Movie to play on the monitors...something so bad that it would stop the customers in their tracks from shock and disbelief. He thought he'd won with this hysterically bad gem, starring the amply endowed Phyllis (VEGA$) Davis as a horny free spirit, who gets spirited away to a prison/sugar cane colony in the middle of God-knows-where, after the local 'policia' frame her on a phony drug charge.

Covering all the bases, from mad-scientist flicks, women-in-prison movies, Seventies soft-core porn and badly made action flicks shot overseas on the cheap, it even throws in a little blackexploitation vibe with the faaaabulous presence of Ella Edwards. Cliff Osmond and Angus Duncan commit thespian thievery every chance they get, and Duncan seems to have popped in a set of steel dentures, as he gives every scene he's in a good going-over, like a fresh pack of Wrigley's.

The surefire way to know if you will love or hate this movie, is to find it under its original title and not any of the other name-changed versions. Because SWEET SUGAR may be the only version that contains that howler of a theme song, which sounds like the L.A. band X going on a HUGE acid-and-tequila bender in some South-of-the-Border dive bar, crossed with The Mamas and The Papas on Zoloft. If the priceless opening number doesn't do it for ya, you either need to switch to an actual film that has some tangible artistic value, or do what we did, and continue the quest to find the All-Time Worst Film on the shelf.

(In case you're wondering, BTW, I won the Contest after picking BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS.)

Sweet Sugar is a Women In Prison movie, although the setting is a work camp rather than a jail. The characters have to cut sugar cane all day, so they spend most of their time out side. They sleep in what look like band camp cabins. Of course, the guards running the program are completely corrupt. The supervision is kind of lax, though, because the inmates find ways to do all kinds of wacky things. This movie has a weird feel to it because of the jarring flow between scenes and the lack of explanation in certain moments. Plus, there are some pretty bizarre moments, like when the guards throw kittens at the women. It was mildly entertaining.

Quality-wise "Sweet Sugar" is standard Women-In-Prison (though the setting is not exactly a prison, but a sugar cane plantation) fare, but it does make an effort to distinguish itself from the pack by mixing broad comedy (the heroine is injected with a drug that turns her on so much that she causes the machine she is connected to to explode!), sadistic violence (including involuntary cannibalism!), supernatural elements (one of the male prisoners knows voodoo and talks to "the spirits"), and just plain weirdness (coming mostly in the form of "the doctor", a creepy nutcase who like to perform "experiments" on the girls just for kicks). Phyllis Davis and Ella Edwards are both strong and attractive heroines, though not quite at the level of, say, Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. The film looks rather good, but it does not flow very well from scene to scene, and the sexy parts as well as the action parts are too short to satisfy. Worth a look for Phyllis and Ella. (**)

This used to be a regular on USA Up All Night, back when Gilbert and Rhonda were still hosting. Phyllis Davis is really gorgeous in a Russ Meyer kind of way (if you don't know what I mean, go rent a Russ Meyer film and you'll understand). It's supposed to be an action film, and is along the same lines as "Chained Fury" and "Reform School Girls". Closeups of breasts, simulated sex, etc. The acting is pretty bad, but combined with a ridiculous plot and the sexual innuendo it makes for an unintentionally hilarious film. If you've got a Saturday evening with nothing to do, invite a few pals over and rent this. You'll be laughing in no time...

In SWEET SUGAR, the title character (Phyllis Davis) is framed, arrested for drug possession, and sent to cut sugarcane for the eeevil Dr. John (Angus Duncan). Not surprisingly, all of the female convicts are stunning, in spite of the hellish, tropical heat of the cane fields

Sugar soon runs afoul of Dr. John and is subjected to his diabolical experiments. Many examinations are performed. Much hanky is pankied! Then, things take an ugly turn and the torture begins, including the infamous "kitty cat attack sequence"!

Somewhere along the line, voodoo enters the picture, Sugar becomes an oracle, and all bets are off!

FACT: No other sugarcane plantation has ever hosted so many skinny-dipping sessions or bubble baths!

HAVE NO FEAR: Fans of immolation and / or cannibalism have not been forgotten!

DO NOT MISS: The apocalyptic uprising or the fiery holocaust finale!

This is pure gold, folks!...

One of a slew of Women In Prison (WIP) exploitation flicks hurriedly lensed after Jack Hill's hugely successful "The Big Doll House" mopped up at the box office for Roger Corman. This one's fairly typical of the subgenre, delivering the WIP formula of nudity and sadism in well measured doses.

It's only notable features are an early writing effort by Stephanie "Terminal Island" Rothman and a truly over-the-top performance by Angus Duncan. He plays Dr. John, the demented warden of the sugar cane plantation to which Phyllis Davis is sentenced, with a hammy verve rarely seen today.

Also slightly notable is the 'cat tossing' scene which, IMOHO, wins the all-time award for "Worst Abuse of an Animal to Set Up A Stupid Visual Pun." Otherwise, "Sweet Sugar" is pretty much every WIP flick you've ever seen.

Throw-away film with some fun topless shots of Ms. Davis. She fits a certain zaftig sexuality that was popular in T&A films of the '70s, and this one will meet your expectations if that's what you're after. The dialog is nonsense, but that's part of the format, really. Have fun, and don't let anyone make you explain your pleasures.

When a prostitute by the name of "Sugar Bowman" (Phyllis Davis) is set up on a phony drug bust she is given the option of either serving several harsh years in a penitentiary or working for only 2 years at a prison which doubles as a sugar plantation. Sugar decides to cut her losses and opts for the 2 years. Unfortunately, what she doesn't know is that it is run by an abusive director named "Burgos" (Cliff Osmond) and a sadistic doctor known as "Dr. John" (Angus Duncan). Soon her attitude gets the best of her and this results in punishments for all the female prisoners which include rape, torture and even medical experimentation. Now, as far as the merits of this movie are concerned, I must say that the acting was pretty bad and the story meandered all over the place. But even so it was still kind of fun and it had some nice-looking ladies which included Pamela Collins (as "Dolores"), Ella Edwards ("Simone") and the aforementioned Phyllis Davis. That said, while I cannot honestly say it was necessarily a "good" movie, I may have cut it some slack and scored it slightly higher than it probably deserves.

SWEET SUGAR is a cheap and derivative women-in-prison movie that seems to have been released to ride a wave of similar produce. This one introduces the main character, Sugar, in a brief set-up scene in which she's arrested as part of a drugs sting and sent to a rural prison "somewhere or other" where she forms part of a chain gang. Meanwhile, the women must deal with in-fighting amongst themselves, the machinations of the cruel guards, and the sadistic experiments of a mad doctor.

It all sounds very exciting and exploitational and yet it's really rather cheap and slapdash, just like Michel Levesque's other B-movie, WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS. Levesque seems interested in shooting a skin flick and a skin flick alone, so there's plenty of topless and rear nudity here but not much else in the way of suspense, tension, or violence.

I didn't mind Phyllis Davis too much as the lead. She's a top-heavy starlet clearly cast for her physique rather than acting ability, but she distinguishes herself quite well and there's something about her more than the usual bimbo actress. One of the most interesting things about the production are the authentically sweaty Costa Rican locations. Bizarrely, there are hints at voodoo in the narrative too, Timothy Brown playing a hilarious priest character who seeks to help the women. This isn't a film for cat lovers either. However, the resolutely plodding narrative mainly consists of escape and capture over and over again, and the air of familiarity means that this is a film only for sympathetic lovers of the genre.

It was really bad , even the breasts couldn't save it. I kept looking to see how much time was left and it's only 1.5 hours. I watched The Stepmother the night before and kinda liked it, gave it a 7. Then I saw this that had Dan Tanna's secretary and thought i give it a shot. She was hot and they were nice but not the movie.

It is surprising that we did not see more of Miss Davis. A few Love American Styles, Sweet Sugar, Terminal Island, a Love Boat or two, Dan Tanna's secretary, and that was about it. Given her obvious "attributes" and her being such a good sport about sharing them with the camera, I would have thought producers would have been lining up to sign her. I could have seen her as a Charlie's Angel, as a Bond girl, as one of J.R. Ewing's other women on Dallas, and other things. Spoilers throughout from here: Here she plays what is described as a prostitute, although, she denies being one, who when caught smoking a joint, gets railroaded onto a sugar plantation prison for 2 years, and takes the deal rather than facing something worse(?). Actually it's not as bad as some prison movies. The prison is not as strict at times seeming like a summer camp- that is between torture, rapes,and the sexual based experiments from the prison warden, a dimented, cackling Dr. John. However, Phyliss is the star and she never loses that smirk. More accurately, the star is that body, which is accented with Daisy Duke type shorts and halter tops with, of course, no bra, as one of Dr. John's experiments seems to be how long Sugar's abundant bosom can remain firm while cutting cane every day without one. The catalyst that moves the plot along is when Sugar refuses Dr. John's advances and has sex with a guard, for which she is whipped. But just one stroke with the whip? In keeping with you the spirit of the movie, why not a hard paddling and having her rub a sore bottom instead? This one hits you with everything and if you only like half of it, the movie served its purpose.

Bad movie...great body.

Watch it for that & nothing else.

Sweet Sugar: 1/10 stars Phyllis Davis: 10/10 stars.

Do not let the average rating of 4.5 on this movie fool you; it is bad, very bad. In fact, after renting and watching it as a precursor/mood setter for a lowlife pub crawl, there was little disagreement between my cohorts and I that we had managed to find the worst movie available for rent at Blockbuster (I'm sure many of you feel that you have made similar discoveries, which I would be interested in hearing, but believe me, if this isn't the worst on offer at Blockbuster, it was at least the worst on offer at the Fredericton, NB Blockbuster on Priestman St.). Which was precisely its appeal, naturally - telling others about this truly bad movie was both entertaining and somewhat self effacing (the title I saw it under was "She Devils in Chains," which title justifies the suspicious queries as to my motives in renting this abysmal classic). I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to place the perfect lowlife opening bookend to a planned night of debauchery, and hope that their closing bookend is equally unsavory.

"Sweet Sugar" product of the 70's exploitation genre.

Undoubtedly the draw is the beautiful late Phyllis Davis, whom I enjoyed watching on TV appearances on 'The Wild, Wild West', 'Beverly Hillbillies', Love American Style when I was a pre-teen. Phyllis Davis and her bountiful rack star in this formulaic (aren't they all?) Women-In-Prison flick.

Set-up by a crooked politician on a bogus drug charge while working as a prostitute in Latin America, Sugar (Davis) ends up on a female chain gang cutting down sugar cane for a sleazy doctor performing experiments on the inmates on a run-down plantation. The usual WIP cliches prevail, but most of the inmates are lookers, so you won't object to the by-the-books plotline, trust me. Naturally, a breakout is plotted and staged with the usual prevailing outcome precedent, but as far as this tired formula goes, this one isn't a snoozer, let-down or terribly painful to its core audience . It's full of witty one-liners, action, violence, some mild lesbianism, whipping, obligatory topless scenes from all of the female stars, a great break-out finale featuring machine guns and explosions and an incredible theme song I just can't get out of my head. It , even has some cannibalism, voodoo and gore are thrown in for good measure.

A solid example of the tawdry , grade "A" trash cinema being cranked out during the drive-in grindhouse glory days ! 7/10 for genre lovers.

Here's one of my favorite Women In Prison flicks. Hell Fire On Ice aka Sweet Sugar was directed by the genius who brought us Werewolves On Wheels. And after viewing both multiple times, over the years, I'd say Sweet Sugar is as good of a Women In Prison flick as the other one is a Werewolf/Biker flick. In other words, this movie rocks!

Hell Fire On Ice is a touching, thought-provoking, often humorous look into the troubled life of a head-strong hooker named Sugar. After being set up by a corrupt politician, and instead of going to prison, our lovely heroine ends up serving 2 years at a Costa Rican, sugar cane plantation. The feisty Sugar isn't above a little back-breaking labor, beatings, and other forms of cruelty, but what she's about to find out is that the guy that runs the place, the sadistic Dr. John, subjects the prisoners to cruel medical experiments. Sooner or later, it might be wise for sweet Sugar to make friends with some of these ornery gals, and break out of this hell hole. And to think. All this just for marijuana possession!

Silly dialogue, Over-the -top performances, and stupid humor make Hell Fire On Ice a riot. Just like every other Women In Prison flick I've come across, Hell Fire On Ice offers enough comical bickering and random nudity to go around. A trashy good time. Not necessarily one of my all-time favorite B-movies or anything like that, but well worth at least one viewing, that is, if chicks & schlock is what you like. And if you're all about chicks behind bars, you'll be needing to see Women's Prison Massacre asap. Perhaps a double-feature is in order. To my knowledge, there's still no DVD available, so I hope you have a vcr! 5/10

Not even brainless fun. Dumb on every level and not worthy of a b-minus exploitation label. Just dumb really

Following in the genre-setting footsteps of Jack Hill's The Big Doll House (1971), Sweet Sugar is a formulaic Women in Prison movie from Werewolves on Wheels (1971) director Michel Levesque. Busty prostitute Sugar (Phyllis Davis) is set up for marijuana possession by a corrupt politician, and is thrown into a Costa Rican prison. She is given the opportunity to be moved to the sugar plantation in exchange for a confession, where she meets the various feisty inmates, including Simone (Ella Edwards). Amongst the male guards, there is hustler Max (Albert Cole) who is trying to get his young friend Ric (James Houghton) laid, and the tyrannical and sadistic Burgos (Cliff Osmond), all overlooked by the creepy Dr. John (Angus Duncan). The girls' hopes are raised upon the arrival of voodoo priest Mojo (Timothy Brown), who uses his powers in black magic to help set them free.

If you're a fan of WiP movies, then Sweet Sugar, if anything, ticks all the boxes. We have shower scenes, boobs (naturally), topless flogging, ketchup-red blood, rapey guards, a filming location where filming is cheap, torture, a sassy black chick, and explosions. Where it stands out is in the sheer insanity of certain scenes, namely Angus Duncan's ridiculously over-the-top Dr. John, who performs orgasm torture experiments on his subjects, and some drugged angry cats. Duncan camps it up so ludicrously that the mundanity of the rest of the film becomes redundant enough to get some enjoyment out of it. Davis has the chesty charm of a Russ Meyer lead (and also starred in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)), but she's no Pam Grier, and the film's quirkiness soon wears thin, as it plods from one familiar scene to the next. It's not quite as dull as most WiP movies, but it's still a pretty bad film that offers nothing new to the genre.

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Sweet Sugar (1972)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Sugar (Phyllis Davis) is a prostitute that plays by her own rules but she's set-up for a drug charge and sent to work in the fields cutting cane. She strikes up a friendship-rivalry with Simone (Ella Edwards) and it doesn't take long for them to realize Dr. John (Angus Duncan) is a sexual psychopath.

SWEET SUGAR is yet another exploitation film that takes place inside a prison and features a lot of beautiful women being abused by a lot of not-so-beautiful men and of course there's the wicked leader calling all of the shots. There were so many different WIP (women in prison) movies being made during this period that you really needed to have something that set your film apart from the others. When you look at the genre as a whole, it would get much more darker and more brutal when various European director's starting making films like BARBED WIRE DOLLS.

How does SWEET SUGAR stand up? Sadly, it's a pretty boring affair and unless you're a completest for the genre then you can just stay away from this. The biggest problem with this movie is that it wants to play the game of a WIP movie but there's no indication that the screenplay or direction knew what to do. On a technical level the film looks nice and it's better made than a lot in the genre but the biggest issue is that it's downright boring and this is never a good thing for an exploitation movie.

The screenplay offers up a checklist of things that you might find in a film like this but there's nothing entertaining about it. Everything on display here has been done better in movies made before this and after it so you're basically just watching a watered down version of something you've seen too many times. There's nothing erotic about the sex scenes. There's nothing overly graphic with the violence. Yeah, there's a couple lesbians kissing and there are some beautiful women naked but everything going on around them is just boring.

Director Michel Levesque directed WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS the year before and I wasn't overly fond of that film either. The movie is just way too boring for its own good and it just doesn't stand out in a crowded genre.

I'm not sure why this is described as an action film as it is more of a comedy. The sad thing is it isn't funny. This movie didn't entertain me at all.