ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Mark Turner 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.

garyldibert 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.

tomgillespie2002 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.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

matlock-6 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...