User Reviews

Growing up in the seventies with the local drive in the only means of seeing films the majority of the time I was one of those who grew up with the vast number of exploitation films released at the time. These were movies that somehow had fairly good technical values production wise and lacked only in plotlines, acting and writing. It didn't make them terrible movies and some actually were quite good. It did mean that most were not award worthy and just plain entertainment.

One genre of these films that ran rampant were the women in prison films. The reason for this is that exploitation films thrived on reasons to show women naked in films without being overly gratuitous. They left actual sex scenes to pornography and instead made these movies which teen boys would flock to instead. Movies like THE BIG BIRD CAGE, THE BIG BIRD HOUSE and CAGED HEAT played alongside other movies that didn't draw as much attention. All of them feature a few common themes: women taking showers together, lesbians, an innocent thrown in jail, a black prisoner fighting a white one only to join forces before the end of the film and violence. One more thing they always had in common was that no matter how dense the jungle or work they did in prison their hair and makeup was always perfect.

Among these movies was the film SWEET SUGAR. It starred Phyllis Davis who would star in another similar film, TERMINAL ISLAND, with Tom Selleck the following year and who later went on to fame in the TV series VEGA$. It was released by one of those companies who thrived on exploitation films, Dimension Pictures. This was the same company responsible for films like THE TWILIGHT PEOPLE, THE DOBERMAN GANG, GATOR BAIT, INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS, DOLEMITE, DIXIE DYNAMITE, DR BLACK AND MR HYDE and a favorite of mine RUBY.

The film tells the story of Sugar Bowman (Davis), a prostitute in Costa Rica who is set up on drug charges and arrested. She is presented with an option, which she takes, to work off her time on cutting cane on a sugar plantation.

The plantation is owned by Dr. John (Angus Duncan), a mad scientists who is using the women on the plantation for secret experiments which are never quite fully explained. For some reason it does involve torture but he seems far too young to be a Nazi transplant who escaped imprisonment. Overseeing the workers is Burgos (Cliff Osmond) who rules with an iron fist. Osmond who plays the part was seen in numerous movies in similar roles.

Sugar does her work but often runs into conflict with another prisoner, a black woman named Simone (Ellaraino). Their back and forth banter offers little in acting ability and plenty of conflict. Also a part of the group is a 17 year old prisoner wrongfully accused. This girl is later raped by Dr. John which sets in motion the anger and combined efforts of the other prisoners to seek revenge.

The film doesn't offer a depth of story here and the acting matches. Some performances are fluid enough but most have the sound of a line reading rather than actors performing. But if you're a fan of this genre then this film will provide you with the exact things you're looking for. Nearly every box on the checklist is marked here.

While Davis went on to show she could actually act in films she made after the point in her career she made these, her obvious assets are what are on display here. Well-endowed but not overly so, she made the most of her looks to take on parts like this. It gave her the opportunity to make a movie and be noticed which led to greater success on TV later on.

No this is not a perfect movie and no this is not a movie that would be award winning. It is what it sets out to be, an exploitation movie that offers plenty of action, a minimal amount of titillation and a few laughs thrown in for good measure with some comedic touches. Two of the funniest moments for me were finding Dr. John, this sinister character, taking a bubble bath and a sequence where the women are trapped in a cage and the guards throw cats in at them. Not tigers but house cats. Hungry, angry house cats. The women end up scratched and bloody which is completely ridiculous and hilarious. Anyone going to see it knew what to expect and they weren't disappointed. If you do the same you will have some fun with this release on disc.

Vinegar Syndrome, whose praises I have sung before, continue to show they are ready, willing and able to take what most would consider something left in the trash and presenting it in pristine format with a few decent extras to boot. To start with this is the cleanest and clearest presentation you will find for the film with a newly scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm interpositive. The extras for a movie like this would be hard to find, more so since star Davis passed away in 2013. But there are a few including a video interview with Screenwriter Donald Spencer, the original theatrical trailer, original cover artwork by Derek Gabryszak and reversible cover artwork.

Fans of exploitation films will want to make sure they add this one to their collection. And those who support companies like Vinegar Syndrome will want to do the same. Let's hope they continue to carry on this tradition of rescuing long lost titles and presenting them in the best format possible.

If you're a fan of 70's era WIP films, this is clearly one of the best in the genre. Free-spirited, big-busted Sugar Bowman (Phyllis Davis) is framed for drug possession by one of her sleazy lovers and is then shipped off to a Costa Rican sugar cane plantation to do hard labor for a couple of years. There she meets some of barely-dressed fellow sisters-in-crime, including feisty prostitute Simone (Ella Edwards), rich-bitch-murderess-in-hiding Fara (Jacqueline Giroux) and naive underage blonde Dolores (Pamela Collins). As if the long hours, lousy pay, exhausting work and leering guards weren't bad enough, the ladies also have to deal with pervert prison camp director Dr. John's (Angus Duncan) various sadistic and degrading "experiments." One involves shooting them up with an aphrodisiac, and another involves heaving domesticated cats (given a special serum to make them rabid) at them! When the girls are pushed too far, they decide to overthrow the plantation and escape.

SWEET SUGAR is a great 70s exploitation/drive-in flick that manages to amuse, entertain and basically hit all the right notes for one of these things. 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. Hell, even some cannibalism, voodoo and gore are thrown in for good measure. Most of the actors give it their all and deliver fun and lively performances. Davis and Edwards are spirited heroines. Duncan is hilariously OTT as the mad scientist. There are also amusing turns by Cliff Osmond as the most sadistic guard (playing it straight to good effect) and Albert Cole as a comic hustler trying to get his dimwitted friend Ric (James Houghton) laid. Also appearing in roles are blaxploitation star Timothy Brown as Mojo, a male prisoner at an adjacent facility, and THE HILLS HAVE EYES star James Whitworth as another guard.

Though released on VHS about half-a-dozen times under multiple titles (CHAIN GANG GIRLS, CAPTIVE WOMEN 3, etc.) over the years, this has become somewhat hard to find these days. I'd love to see a DVD release sometime soon.

A prostitute with a mouth fulla sass gets sent to a woman's prison work camp where it turns out the guards are sadistic and the camp leader is "experimenting" on the women that work there. Queue all sorts of half-naked debauchery as the girls fight back and give the babyfaced freakazoid Dr. John (yes!) the runaround, with an absolutely insane ending. I haven't personally for over half a decade, but it might be worth blazing out before watching this one.

TITLE: SWEET SUGAR opened in theaters on January 1 1973 starring Phyllis Davis, Pamela Collins, and Jacqueline Giroux. This movie is 90 minutes long.

SUMMARY: The movie opens with a feisty prostitute Sweet Sugar goes up to a room with a man and he tells her he has something for her and gives her what looks to be a rolled up joint. He tells Sugar that he has to go get something and leaves the room. Then two cops enter the room and arrest her on grounds of illegal drugs. Sugar is taken and thrown in jail and end is offered a plea deal that includes Sugar of serving two years hard labor cutting sugar cane at a harsh prison plantation farm. The prison is run by a wicked and deranged warden Dr. John who grossly mistreats the inmates by subjecting them to all kinds of twisted and inhumane medical experiments. Naturally, Sugar forms bonds with Simone her chief rival, Doleres and Fara. The women try to escape on several different occasions only to have something go wrong. After each time one of the girls is whipped, caged or is forced to be alone with the guards. Each day the women have to go out into the plantation to cut sugar cane. The girls get very little wages and what wages they do get they have to pay back for the food, clothes, and other things the girls need.

QUESTIONS: Who was the guy that framed Sugar? Why was Sugar sent to this plantation instead of another prison? What were the other girls sent to the plantation for?

MY THOUGHTS: I love this movie. This movie is full with action and drama and it keeps you guessing on what's going to happen next. I thought that Pamela Collins and Jacqueline Giroux were great in the roles as Sugar co conspires. However, to me this movie was about one person and one person only Phyllis Davis. She was excellent in her role as Sweet Sugar. This movie also used Phyllis Davis beauty in this movie also. There's several scenes that involves Sugar that will get your blood racing. Despite what other reviews stated about this movie I thought it was an excellent picture. So based on the action, drama and most of all Sweet Sugar beauty and talent I give this movie 10 weasel stars.

Feisty prostitute Sugar (a winningly brash and spunky performance by statuesque brunette stunner Phyllis Davis) gets busted on a trumped-out marijuana possession charge and has to serve two years hard labor cutting sugar cane at a harsh prison plantation farm. The wicked and deranged warden Dr. John (a deliciously hammy portrayal of pure eye-rolling cackling evil by Angus Duncan) grossly mistreats the inmates by subjecting them to all kinds of twisted and inhumane medical experiments. Naturally, Sugar and several other ladies plot to escape from this dismal hellhole. Director Michel Levesque and screenwriter Don Spencer load this satisfyingly seamy potboiler with all the right trashy grindhouse stuff: we've got a constant snappy pace, a handy helping of tasty female nudity, rape, hot babes in tight tank tops and skimpy cut-off shorts, a couple of obligatory shower scenes, degradation, torture (Dr. John locks a bunch of trouble-making gals in a room with a gaggle of ferocious rabid felines!), a catfight, and a rousing last reel break-out set piece. Moreover, the cast of familiar B-movie faces have a field day with their juicy roles: Ella Edwards as the sassy Simone, Cliff Osmond as the mean and sadistic captain Burgos, Timothy Brown as affable voodoo-practicing convict Mojo, Pamela Collins as sweet, vulnerable teenager Dolores, James Whitworth as brutish guard Mario, Albert Cole as likable contraband dealer Max, and James Houghton as lovably dim-witted lunkhead Ric. Gabriel Torres' reasonably slick cinematography gives the picture an attractive bright look. Don Gere's groovy, swinging score and the funky, syncopated theme song both hit the soulful spot. A pleasingly scuzzy and spirited piece of blithely low-rent junk.

Sugar Bowman (Phyllis Davis, who was Susan Lake in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls) has taken a deal to serve two years working on Dr. John's (Angus Duncan) sugarcane plantation rather than be in prison for a crime she didn't commit. When she's not out in the fields cutting crops with a machete all day, she and the other inmates get drugs tested on them by Dr. John who also is into assaulting the younger of his prisoners.

The female inmates have this scam where they are hiding Simone's man, Mojo, but the guards catch and kill him by burning him at the stake. The women respond by setting the fields on fire and teaming up with the guards to escape. Dr. John claims to be immortal, so Simmone tests this theory by blowing up her jeep, killing both of them so Sugar can escape.

Director Michel Levesque was an art director on Russ Meyer's Up!, Supervixens and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens, as well as The Incredible Melting Man, Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks and Savage Journey. He also did the same for Silk Stalkings, so if that show seemed kind of filthy, well, there you go. He also directed Werewolves on Wheels. It was written by Don Spencer (The Big Doll House) and R. Z. Samuel.

I can't think of a WIP film that has orgasm-inducing drugs or voodoo, so for that, Sweet Sugar is more than worth a watch.