When I initially decided on what would become the theme for this year’s Halloween Horrors series, I immediately knew that certain films would be perfect choices for certain contributors. This next entry is one of those instances… mostly because today’s contributor had previously expressed interest in this particular film in the past. 

Dementia Von Grimm returns to our series today for a sixth year, having first joined us back in 2016 for a look at 1989’s Dance of the Damned. A longtime friend from back in my convention days (which really wasn’t very long ago), Dementia is one of the host of The Original Spooky Guide vidcast, in which she and her co-host not only inform and educated attendees about not only Florida’s own Spooky Empire’s horror convention, but also provide tips, advice, and con etiquette applicable to all conventions.

As Horror And Sons’ homebase of Florida was pimp-slapped by Hurricane Milton just a few days ago, there’s possibly some painful irony to the fact that the following piece starts with the words “winds in the east”. That’s okay. We’ll survive, and so will this series… even if I did have to rent a hotel room in a different city to make sure that it progresses as planned. 

Sugar Hill

“Winds in the East… mist comin’ in… like somethin’s a’brewin’… about to begin…” and Dick Van Dyke is right; now is that Magickal time of year for witches and ghosts and vampires and all sort of creatures of the supernatural.

Growing up in the 70’s/80’s, I consider myself fortunate to have been privy to a Renaissance in horror from a very young age, when horror went from late night TV and niche to prime-time featured movies and weekend afternoon marathons. From vampires in soap operas to ghosts and werewolves in cartoons.

For a number of us from that era, this surge helped us to define our inner fears to “taboo” fascinations. For some of us, like a little biracial girl raised in a small town white family, it helped us to relate and identify. My very first horror that I recall was the premiere of Blacula in 1973, when I was 4. I shouldn’t have been allowed to watch that, but it did immediately take root and ignite my lifelong love of vampires and Blaxploitation.

During this Halloween season, often horror fans reach for those murderous slashers, or gory blood fests, or even classic ghost stories. Even with supernatural horror fans, there’s a small “niche” that often gets overlooked: Voodoo.

When you say that term, most may think immediately of Angela Bassett in “American Horror Story”, or even Kate Hudson in The Skeleton Key. Some may go back to 1988’s The Serpent and the Rainbow (rooted in fact) or Angel Heart (also rooted in some traditions). I go back to 1974 and the underrated gem called Sugar Hill.

A stunning leading lady (Marki Bey), an intimidating “villian” (Don Pedro Colley), and a whole lot of… relatively accurate black history is wrapped up in this action-packed badass tale of revenge. This is the first movie that I recall acknowledging the history of hoodoo/voodoo and from where “zombies” originated.

This time capsule is perfect for every October occasion; at your Halloween party or if you have guests over, if it’s a weekend afternoon and you’re eating in bed, a GREAT date night, in the background while you’re working on your costume, or even if it’s 3am and you can’t sleep. You come for Marki Bey (who does a great job given the script and dialogue she handed), you stay for Don Pedro Colley, who shines as Baron Samedi (and it’s criminal he isn’t included in horror villain icons). Not to mention, the soundtrack is absolutely choice. It’s a damn shame “Supernatural Voodoo Woman” by The Originals is not included on most Halloween playlists.

Do yourself a favor this month, look up Sugar Hill on YouTube, Tubi, Pluto, or your streaming service of choice. It’s a worthy sleeper, an atmospheric and fun flashback that can still hold its own against today’s fodder. Can ya dig?

trailer