L'isola delle salamandre

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.

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!...

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.

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.

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.