Sweet Sugar

1972

Action / Drama

24
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 20%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 20% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.1/10 10 976 976

rape escape mad scientist

Plot summary

A young woman nabbed in a drug bust chooses to work on a sugarcane plantation with other convicts instead of going to jail.

Director

Michel Levesque Photo
Michel Levesque

Top cast

Cliff Osmond Photo
Cliff Osmond as Burgos
José Luis Jiménez Photo
José Luis Jiménez as (as Luis Jimenez)
Phyllis Davis Photo
Phyllis Davis as Sugar
Juan Antillon Freer Photo
Juan Antillon Freer
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
740.64 MB
1280*682
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds 4
1.33 GB
1920*1024
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds 12

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by jfgibson73 5 / 10

Strange WIP Exploitation Film

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.
Reviewed by kirbylee70-599-526179 6 / 10

CLASSIC WOMEN IN PRISON RELEASE

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.
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