Years before forming Troma Entertainment, Lloyd Kaufman was studying at Yale University alongside lifelong friend and future filmmaker Oliver Stone. In the mid-1960s, both decided to take a hiatus from Yale: Lloyd went to Chad and Oliver served in Vietnam. After returning to Yale, Kaufman decided to pursue filmmaking, starting with 1969’s The Girl Who Returned. Later on, he started working at Cannon Films alongside John G. Avildsen, who later directed Rocky and The Karate Kid. In 1971, Kaufman directed his follow-up film, The Battle of Love’s Return, which featured his old friend Oliver Stone acting. It was on said film that Kaufman met future cult actress Lynn Lowry, who he was immediately smitten by. He cast her in his next film, which was directed by Theodore Gershuny, who previously directed Silent Night, Bloody Night. That film was finally released to theaters in 1973 as Sugar Cookies.
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Synopsis
During a bizarre sexual teasing, actress Alta Leigh (Lynn Lowry) is killed by her pornographer boyfriend Max Pavell (George Shannon). Following her death, Max and his other lover Camilla Stone (Mary Woronov) look for another girl to manipulate. During auditions, Camilla meets Julie Kent (Lynn Lowry), an aspiring actress who looks exactly like Alta. Camilla decides to befriend Julie and earn her trust in an attempt to turn her into Alta for Max. Over the course of a few days, Julie starts growing close to Camilla, completely unaware of her true intentions. Meanwhile, Max is having an affair with his secretary (Jennifer Welles) and manipulating his nephew Gus (Daniel Sadur). Soon, Max meets Julie and is immediately smitten by her, though he’s unaware of what Camilla is up to. It all culminates in an explosive twist that will leave you on the edge of your seat.
Review
Lloyd Kaufman has described Sugar Cookies as “the only X-rated film in history to ever lose money.” Admittedly, it’s easy to see how this could’ve lost money since it’d be hard to sell a film like this. People expecting this to be some sort of 70s sex romp are going to be somewhat disappointed. While there’s plenty of nudity, there are not very many sex scenes, and they’re pretty softcore by 70s standards. Also, there are weird comedic moments sprinkled in, mostly with the Gus character, that clash with the overall film. One minute, you’re watching an erotic thriller, when suddenly a jovial song called “Big Gus, What’s The Fuss?” is playing. While it’s common to inject some humor into a thriller, it’s not really built up and comes out of nowhere. It’s almost on par with The Last House on the Left, though this isn’t quite as disturbing.
Despite its flaws, this is still a very interesting and fairly well-made erotic thriller even factoring in its low budget. Kaufman said this was meant to be in the style of a Hitchcock thriller, and I think they succeeded. The film deals with themes like an identity crisis, infidelity, manipulation, and generally using people to satisfy your own needs. Lynn Lowry is incredible in her contrasting dual roles as the bitchy Alta and the innocent Julie. Mary Woronov is spot-on as the cold-hearted Camilla, always sporting a face that conveys how manipulative she is. George Shannon also does a great job playing a manipulative and uncaring sleazebag who you love to hate. While the film can get slow at times and has one too many montages, it’s still a breezy watch. Overall, Sugar Cookies is an interesting relic of 70s low-budget cinema that’s worth discovering.
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