SUGAR HILL (1974)

• Director: Paul Maslansky
• Cast: Marki Bey, Robert Quarry, Don Pedro Colley, Zara Cully
• Film: 91mins | USA | No Subtitles | Intermission
• Event: 20:45 – 23:10 [18+]

When her boyfriend is murdered by mobsters, Sugar Hill decides not to get mad, but BAD, selling her soul to raise an army of the dead!

“MEET SUGAR HILL AND HER ZOMBIE HITMEN… THE MAFIA HAS NEVER MET ANYTHING LIKE THEM!”

BAR TRASH celebrates our 3rd year and 10th sensational season with WE ARE TRASH!, a fan-made mixtape of cult and chaotic cinema (14 May to 20 Aug 2025).

Hot on the success of THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972) and FOXY BROWN (1974), BAR TRASH returns to the dazzling world of Blaxploitation with one of its most sensationally strange titles: SUGAR HILL (1974).

SUGAR HILL is a moody Blaxploitation horror thriller featuring Marki Bey as pant-suited avenger Diana aka Sugar Hill. With the help of Voodoo queen Mama Maitresse (the brilliantly charismatic Zara Cully), Sugar conjures Lord of the Dead, Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley), and his horde of silvery-eyed zombie hitmen to execute some racist thugs responsible for murdering her lover.

The only film directed by producer Paul Maslansky (creator of the POLICE ACADEMY series), SUGAR HILL offers a “unique blend of exploitation film and Southern gothic horror” (Bloody Disgusting) and is an outlier from the post-Romero characterisation of the living dead. Here, the zombies are reanimated corpses of plantation slaves, echoing the monsters’ original screen depiction in classic horror films like I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943).

“SUGAR HILL has a bit of an edge… by virtue of the fact that its vengeance is given a certain historical-political dimension. Morgan’s gang, represented throughout as the arm of white exploitation and racism, is obliterated by the corpses of Black slaves in a dream of apocalypse.”

Monthly Film Bulletin

Polite notice: We are showing SUGAR HILL without subtitles from the best available digital source. The film contains scenes of racist violence, discriminatory language, and stereotypical representations of Black African culture (the magical dancing chicken’s foot has to be seen to be disbelieved!).

/// BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo and friends. Films are served with themed drinks, introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles / captions where possible. Tickets from £3.50. Adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on Instagram for updates. More info at tokenhomo.com ///

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/film-hub-london