The Horror Pod Class Season 3 Episode 31: The Zombies of Sugar Hill
Welcome to the Junior Year Episode 31 of the Horror Pod Class. My name is Tyler and I am the editor-in-chief of Signal Horizon, a magazine dedicated to exploring horror both in and out of the classroom. When I’m not managing Signal Horizon, I am a teacher at a local high school here in Kansas City, Missouri. Tonight, as I am every night, I am joined by my co-host and monster ambassador here at Signal Horizon, award-winning writer Orrin Grey!
What are we watching:
Tyler: The second season of the Twilight Zone. It is really good. It is much more in line with Tales From the Crypt. Like mean in a playful way. Reading Clown in the Cornfield by Adam Cesare.
Orrin: 5th edition D & D and Dagahra on Prime. Writhing Skies by Betty Rocksteady
Dark Corners of the Web:
Horror Noire is on Shudder for FREE! Go Watch it. Its mandatory viewing for Sugar Hill.
Essential Question: Is Sugar Hill an example of Blaxploitation?
IMDB: Summary
When her boyfriend is murdered by gangsters, Sugar Hill decides not to get mad, but BAD! She entreats voodoo queen Mama Maitresse to call on Baron Samedi, Lord of the Dead, for help with a gruesome revenge. In exchange for Sugar’s soul, the Dark Master raises up a zombie army to do her bidding. The bad guys who think they got away clean are about to find out that they’re DEAD wrong.
This movie was reworked for TV and called “The Zombies of Sugar Hill” which is kind of a cooler title
Other Questions Worth Asking: Is it time for a Blaxploitation Rennaissance.
https://www.academia.edu/3704617/_The_Blaxploitation_Film_Era_and_the_Black_Female_Lead_
Grace D Gipson. Blaxsploitation and the Black Female Lead. Marki Bey as Diana ‘Sugar’ Hill is great.
Soul Style: For sure! Ajita Wilson: Sexploitation Blaxploitation and the Making of Black Womanhood TSQ 2020
Clip-Love it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAYmnEkJ2MI
Super Interesting stuff on Black Masculinity. I am wondering if there is a hyper masculine black character in Sugar Hill?
Screening the Past, 2005 Amanda Howell
The black body has always received attention within the framework of white supremacy, as racist/sexist iconography has been deployed to perpetrate notions of innate biological inferiority Against this cultural backdrop, every movement for black liberation in this society, whethe r reformist or radical has had to formulate a counter-hegemonic discourse of the body to effectively resist white supremacy”
https://www.academia.edu/1630269/Spectacle_Masculinity_and_Music_in_Blaxploitation_Cinema
Baron Samedi is Kind of the Best right?
He is a Loa (Spirit of Haitian Voodoo) he is in charge of resurrection and is always seen with a glass of Rum and a Cigar
AAU
Lava lamps and platform shoes are cool … but this movie is just a turd from the 1970’s someone dusted off and remastered for the zombie generation. There’s nothing even remotely funny about any of this, except maybe the stock footage they used for the nature scenes. The acting is beyond terrible. You can look at the movie cover and that’s about as much as you’ll get from the rest of it. Several reviews rave about the leading lady’s beauty … well …. I wouldn’t throw rocks at her or anything, but that purple jumpsuit isn’t her best look, No idea how this got a decent rating. I’d post zero if they let me … the fact that this movie was released in the new millennium is an embarrassment to the human race.
Rough Cut T Shirts
https://www.roughcutshirts.com/
Next Week: Gemma Files and Blood Quantum
Tyler has been the editor in chief of Signal Horizon since its conception. He is also the Director of Monsters 101 at Truman State University a class that pairs horror movie criticism with survival skills to help middle and high school students learn critical thinking. When he is not watching, teaching or thinking about horror he is the Director of Debate and Forensics at a high school in Kansas City, Missouri.