Sweet Sugar

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 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.

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...

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.

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.