Villian(s)  Voodoo, zombies

Actor(s):  Marki Bey, Robert Quarry, Don Pedro Colley, Betty Anne Rees

Brief Description  Sugar Hill (also released as The Zombies of Sugar Hill) is a 1974 American blaxploitation horror film directed by Paul Maslansky and released by American International Pictures (AIP). The film uniquely blends the elements of 1970s blaxploitation cinema with supernatural voodoo horror, serving as a prominent example of the subgenre alongside films like Blacula.

Plot:
The story centers on Diana "Sugar" Hill (played by Marki Bey), a photographer living in Houston (or New Orleans, depending on regional settings). Her boyfriend, Langston, is a successful nightclub owner who refuses to sell his establishment to a ruthless white mob boss named Morgan. In retaliation, Morgan’s hired thugs beat Langston to death. Grief-stricken and realizing that the traditional justice system cannot or will not help her, Sugar decides to take matters into her own hands. She seeks out Mama Maitresse, an aged, powerful voodoo queen. Together, they travel deep into the swamplands to summon Baron Samedi , the charismatic and mischievous Lord of the Dead. Sugar cuts a deal with Baron Samedi, trading her soul in exchange for a gruesome revenge. The Baron raises an army of unique, swamp-dwelling zombies—the preserved bodies of former slaves brought to the U.S. from Guinea.

Armed with her squad of undead hitmen, Sugar systematically hunts down and eliminates Morgan and his henchmen one by one. Meanwhile, Sugar's former lover, police Lieutenant Valentine, attempts to investigate the string of bizarre, supernatural murders. Unlike the mindless, flesh-eating ghouls popularized by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Sugar Hill draws from traditional Haitian voodoo folklore. The zombies are depicted as literal "walking dead" servants entirely bound to the will of a human master. They feature calcified, bulbous silver eyes and are completely silent. The zombies still wear their original historical slave shackles. Critics often note the tragic but powerful subtext: while they never escaped physical bondage in life, their undead bodies are weaponized as tools to dismantle corrupt, racist oppressors.