| Vintage Pulp | Jan 4 2018 |
It's bad for you but impossible to resist.
When we saw the promo materials for Sweet Sugar we had to watch the movie, because women-in-prison flicks are one of the most reliable forms of guilty fun out there. This one premiered in January 1972, and stars the majestic Phyllis Davis as the archetypal uppity American woman laid low in a tropical hellhole prison. How she got there doesn't really matter. It's what goes on there that the film is built around—medical experiments, a cruel warden, sadistic guards, and not nearly enough clothing to go around. Davis wins over the other inmates and eventually leads them in a chaotic escape attempt. As a women-in-prison entry Sweet Sugar
is pretty well regarded, but of course utterly ridiculous and impossibly cheap—the entire budget could probably fit in the rear pockets of Davis's short-shorts. She actually appeared in another tropical prison flick, by the way—1973's Terminal Island, which we talked about a few months ago. In that one she was part of the scenery. In this earlier effort she's asked to carry the film and manages to lug it for ninety steaming minutes without once breaking down in tears and placing a furious call to her agent. Now that you know what you're going to get with Sweet Sugar don't place a furious call to us. We warned you.
is pretty well regarded, but of course utterly ridiculous and impossibly cheap—the entire budget could probably fit in the rear pockets of Davis's short-shorts. She actually appeared in another tropical prison flick, by the way—1973's Terminal Island, which we talked about a few months ago. In that one she was part of the scenery. In this earlier effort she's asked to carry the film and manages to lug it for ninety steaming minutes without once breaking down in tears and placing a furious call to her agent. Now that you know what you're going to get with Sweet Sugar don't place a furious call to us. We warned you.
Costa RicaSweet SugarPhyllis DavisEllarainoPamela Collinsposter artcinemasexploitationwomen in prisonmovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Sep 23 2017 |
What do you get when you put a bunch of convicts on an island? A lot of dead convicts.
Before Escape from New York there was Terminal Island. And before Terminal Island there was, well, we aren't sure. Maybe The Big Bird Cage or She Devils in Chains. Released in June 1973, and eventually making it to Denmark today in 1977, you see the Danish promo poster for Kvindefængslet på Djævleøen, aka Terminal Island above. The movie stars Don Marshall, Marta Kristen, Barbara Leigh, Ena Hartman, and cult fave Phyllis Davis, plus it features both Tom Selleck and Roger E. Mosley, a duo that would later be cast as besties Thomas Magnum and T.C. on the television show Magnum P.I. What's the plot? It follows the expected blueprint—tough convicts left to fend for themselves except for the occasional supply drop, women in mortal peril from every inhabitant with a functioning dick, and one good-hearted prisoner who doesn't belong there at all. The whole set-up degenerates into a savage confrontation between two opposing factions, predictably fighting over the possession of women, who can only hope to choose between abusers and protectors. While Terminal Island is an early entry in the fertile penal colony genre, what you really want to know is whether it's actually any good, right? Well, let's just say it's good enough to watch if you're a fan of seventies b-movies. We'd like to offer you a better endorsement, but we really can't.
DenmarkKvindefængslet på DjævleøenTerminal IslandDon MarshallMarta KristenBarbara LeighEna HartmanTom SelleckRoger E. MosleyPhyllis Davisposter artcinemamovie review
