A Vingança dos Mortos

A good exploitation film that mixes the usual elements with voodoo and zombies. It was actually surprisingly light on the gore and violence and had zero nudity, but the story and the characters were interesting enough. The "eye" effects for the zombies made them stand out from other movies.

Baron Samedi almost stole the show from the beautiful Marki Bey . . . almost.

The grandmother from the Jeffersons, Charles Robinson from Night Court, Robert Quarry from Count Yorga and Richard Lawson (father of Bianca Lawson from Buffy-TVS) all star.

"Diana 'Sugar' Hill" (Marki Bey) is in love with a man named "Langston" (Larry Don Johnson) who happens to own a nightclub in Louisiana called "Club Haiti" which the local mob boss "Morgan" (Robert Quarry) wants to buy. But Langston doesn't want to sell. So Morgan has Langston beaten to death. Seeking revenge Sugar Hill goes to the local voodoo priestess,"Mama Maitresse" (Zara Cully) who summons the evil "Lord of the Dead" named "Baron Samedi" (Don Pedro Colley). Sugar Hill offers Baron Samedi her soul if he will help her kill those responsible for the death of her boyfriend. He agrees and summons an army of zombies to do her bidding. At any rate, rather than spoil the film for those who haven't seen it, I will stop right here and go no further on the plot. I will say, however, that Marki Bey was pretty and performed quite well. Additionally, while I didn't care for the way Baron Samedi was initially presented, I began to enjoy the performance of Don Pedro Colley more as the film went on. All things considered, I thought that this was a pretty good zombie film.

Langston (Larry D. Johnson) is the owner of a successful nightclub and he proposes his girlfriend, the photographer Diana "Sugar" Hill (Marki Bey), to get married with him. However the kingpin Morgan (Robert Quarry) and his henchmen kill Morgan when he does not accept his offer to sell the nightclub. Sugar Hill seeks out the voodoo priestess Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully) to revenge the death of her beloved Langston. Mama summons the Lord of the Dead, Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley), who offers a horde of zombies to Sugar Hill take revenge. In return, she offers her soul to him. She lures Morgan while his gangsters are murdered one by one by the zombies. Meanwhile his former boyfriend, Detective Valentine (Richard Lawson), investigates the gruesome deaths of Morgan´s mobsters and suspects that the killer is using voodoo to kill them.

"Sugar Hill" is a funny and cult low-budget zombie film with Blaxploitation to the best. The plot is highly entertaining and the make-up is great, with creepy zombies with half- Ping-Pong ball on each eye. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Zumbis de Sugar Hill" ("Sugar Hill´s Zombies")

Sugar Hill is an entertaining voodoo zombie flick from 1974. A club owner in New Orleans is murdered and his wife Sugar goes to a voodoo woman to conjure up Baron Samedi the voodoo revenger. Sugar and the Baron, and the Baron's zombies, go after the mafia kingpin (same guy who played Count Yorga, Vampire) and his henchmen on a bloody trail of voodoo revenge. The Baron even poses as a taxi driver to lure an unsuspecting victim to his fate. Where did Baron Samedi learn to drive a car in the kingdom of the dead? Just wondering.

I am a huge horror movie fan. I have seen a lot of zombie movies and a lot of movies like Blacula. I liked Blacula and I liked Sugar Hill also. They are both more like comedy than horror. But that is what the film makers intended I'm sure. Over-the-top craziness. There is very little gore in his movie so the makers were not going for shock value. They did a good job creating interesting and colorful characters as the protagonists and antagonists. The zombies are well-done, unique, and very creepy-looking. This movie is just a lot of fun. Recommended.

Marki Bey stars as a foxy lady, named Diana "Sugar" Hill. Her handsome prince fiancé, Langston, owns a Voodoo-themed night club in the deep south. The club is so successful, that the local mobster, Mr. Morgan, wants to pressure Langston into selling the club to him. When Langston refuses, Morgan's thugs beat Langston to death, in the parking lot of the club.

Consumed with anguish and thoughts of vengeance, Sugar decides to take matters into her own hands. She seeks out an elderly Voodoo priestess, named Mama Maitresse. Sugar explains to her, that she needs Mama's help, via her Voodoo powers. Mama Maitresse conjures up the ruler of the dead, Baron Zamedi. He then summons an army of Zombies, who were all former slaves, to help Sugar dispatch Langston's killers, one-by-one.

Marki Bey can certainly compete in the looks department, with that other 70s Blaxploitation goddess, Pam Grier. Ms. Bey is completely convincing as the grief-stricken Sugar, who is determined to settle the score with Morgan and his henchmen.

Robert Quarry's performance as the suave yet vicious Morgan, is pulled-off well. But it's not Quarry's most compelling role. He was much more charismatic, in his past performances in his Vampire films. So if you're a Robert Quarry fan, be forewarned that he doesn't shine that brightly, in this film.

Betty Anne Rees plays Morgan's racist, sex-starved girlfriend, Celeste. Betty Anne has a natural talent for portraying licentious, dangerous characters, with malicious intent. Her wicked-looking, gleaming gray eyes, make your blood run cold. Celeste is a particularly vile character, and Sugar exacts exquisitely appropriate revenge on her, in this film. Viewers will be cheering at Celeste's utter comeuppance, orchestrated by Sugar and the zombies.

Don Pedro Colley as Baron Samedi, gives an over-the-top performance. Don really chews-up the scenery, emoting like mad. You can tell that he really enjoys his role, as Baron Samedi. The other actors give mostly wooden performances. Especially Richard Lawson's portrayal of Valentine, the cop who was also Sugar's former love interest.

Like virtually all the films of the Blaxploitation genre, Sugar Hill's main thrust is revenge. Only a tiny handful of 70s Blaxploitation films, worked horror into their plot-lines. Of those, Sugar Hill stands out from the rest of the bunch. For fans of 70s Blaxploitation films, Sugar Hill delivers the goods.