SUGAR COOKIES (1973)
Tromatic Special Edition Blu-ray
Label: Troma
Region: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 47 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Theodore Gershuny
Cast: George Shannon, Mary Woronov, Lynn Lowrey, Daniel Sadurs, Jennifer Welles
Sugar Cookies (1973) is co-written by Troma's own Lloyd Kaufman and directed by Theodore Gershuny, who had previously directed Silent Night, Bloody Night (1971) really only went on to direct a couple of episodes of TV horror anthologies Monsters and Tales from the Darkside, and it stars the lovely duo of Mary Woronov (The House of the Devil) and Lynn Lowry (Shivers). The film opens with adult film director Max (George Shannon) playing a twisted sex game with his porn star lover Alta (Lowry) that ends with him shooting her in the head. Max's other lover, porn producer Camilla (Woronov), provides the director with an alibi and Alta's death is widely reported as a tragic suicide.
Soon after Camilla begins auditioning actresses to fill the void left by the death of Alta. We soon discover that Alta was also Camilla's lover in addition to Max, which makes for a fun triangular dynamic. The producer meets with several actresses before coming across a young woman named Julie (Lowry, again) who is the spitting image of the late Alta. Promising her a future in film Camilla sets about molding the young starlet into a version of Alta through a series of kinky seduction and cruel mind games which lead-up to a finale that mirrors the opening scene with a nice serving of revenge.
While the title invokes images of a lighthearted softcore sex film but it rarely strays into the realm true softcore perversions or offering much in the way of comedy either. There is an off-kilter sub plot involving Max's chubby nephew Gus (Daniel Sadur) and his quest to lose his virginity, but t doesn't yield much, it's such a weird detour and feels shoe-horned into the film. A scene of Gus popping his cherry in drag while screaming the name of his uncle left me scratching my head, as did a pair of panty-sniffing detectives - none of which plays into anything whatsoever, just wacky dead ends.
While it's not played for laughs it's decidedly weird, I found the strange sex rituals and mind games intriguing but desperately disjointed. It's the onscreen pairing of the seductive Lynn Lowry and Mary Woronov that carried the film for me, while I have never found Woronov to be a woman who stirred me there's something about her here that I found so damn appealing.
Lowry is decent in the dual-role of seductive adult film star and the more naive Julie who finds herself manipulated by the twisted duo Max and Camilla, she has a presence you cannot deny. Lowry and Woronov engage in some sapphic love scenes throughout but the film is not an x-rated sleaze fest, this is more a trashy erotic thriller with some off-kilter detours and arthouse leanings.
Audio/Video: Sugar Cookies (1973) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Troma, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. The film was previously issued on Blu-ray/DVD combo by Vinegar Syndrome in 2014, that release was a 4K scan of the film from the original 35mm negative, and I believe, based on the Troma/VS shared releases I've seen in the past, is probably that same HD master that VS releases. However, this has been cropped to a screen-filling 1.78:1, as where VS's release was the 1.85:1, so we do lose a sliver of frame information. The film grain is managed quite nicely throughout with some excellent fine detail and clarity. It's an impressive image front to back with solid color reproduction and skin tones, there are some minor non-distracting instances of speckling and print damage from time to time but generally this looks solid, though I think the VS release is better encoded, the grain is tighter and better resolved on the previous release. Troma are still living in the early '00s and we only get a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track, when the VS release had uncompressed DTS, which is a bummer. That said, I honestly don't think it's a huge loss in this instance, even the DTS track was a bit flat and boxy with asome audio hiss, which is probably due to poor sound recording during filming or poor sound elements.
There are no real new extras for this release. They carry over all the Vinegar Syndrome produced extras from the 2014 Blu-ray, these include the 14-min interview with star Lynn Lowry entitled "Making Sugar Cookies with Lynn Lowry" with the star discussing her first meeting with Lloyd Kaufman and landing the role going onto discuss her hesitation to do nudity onscreen at first. How her contract stipulated that there be no full frontal nudity, but during the interview admits that there is a "hint of bush" in a few scenes. Going on to discuss director Ted Gershuny, the duality of her role in the film and working with Woronov who she thought was a bit intimidating. Having just re watched the film Lowry offers up some fun anecdotes and seems genuinely fond of the film which she rightfully recalls as more of an art film that an x-rated sexploitation entry, this is a pretty dandy interview. Also from the VS release is a 38-min Interview with producer Lloyd Kaufman, which is pretty in-depth with Kaufman, the typically animated Troma impresario, remembering his time on the film and discovering star Lynn Lowry which he cast in several films. The man is an encyclopedia of knowledge and the half hour featurette is pretty dense with info and humor.
That VS release also featured a 5-min archival interview with Mary Woronov conducted by Lloyd Kaufman from the previous Troma DVD. She recalls being shocked that director Theodore Gershunuy, whom she was married to at the time, not only cast her in a lesbian role but also inserted himself into the film in a softcore sex scene, it's brief but pretty interesting. both Kaufman and Lowry are very forthcoming about their experiences in the interviews, while Woronov seems a bit more reserved or maybe just slightly annoyed by Lloyd Kaufman whom insists that Woronov was a lesbian in real life at one point during the interview. This release also ports over a brief 5-min interview with Lowry conducted by Kaufman. The last of the film specific extras is a scratchy, beat-up 2-min Theatrical Trailer for the film, plus a 3-min Alt Theatrical Trailer, which looks like it was sourced from VHS.
There are also loads "Tromatic Extras", which I'll be honest about, I have always found these Traomatic extras very annoying, but hey, it's totally on brand for Troma. Sure, you can just not watch them, or, hear me out, just save that extra digital space for better digital encodes and bit rates to let the transfer breathe a bit.
Special Features:
- 4K Restoration from the 35mm Camera Negative
- Video interview with Star Lynn Lowry (13:39)
- Interview with Star Mary Woronov (5:32)
- interview with Lloyd Kaufman (35:18)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:44)
- Alt Theatrical Trailer (2:53)
- Classic introduction by Lloyd Kaufman (7:18)
- Archival Interviews with Lynn Lowery (4:12) and Mary Woronov (4:59)
- Interview with DVD Editor Larry McGinley (3:32)
- Coming Distractions: Curse of the Weredeer (1:50), #ShakespearesShitstorm (2:24), Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (3:42), Toxic Avenger (3:11), Class of Nuke 'Em High (2:56), Sweet Meats (2:06), Kill Dolly Kill (1:08), Eating Miss Campbell (1:37), Tromeo & Juliet (2:10)
- Troma Now! Promo (2:11)
- We Stand with Ukraine (1:02)
- Entombed "Seeing Red" Music Video (3:46)
- Abbie Harper "Tromatized" Music Video (1:50)
- Stupid Moments in Troma History (2:53)
- Radiation March (0:55)
- Troma: 30 Years of Reel Independence (9:58)
- TA in $k Promo (1:10)
Sugar Cookies (1971) has some strange appeal, namely the erotic pairing of Woronov and Lowry, who carry the film through performance and spectacle alone. Despite some sluggish detours I give it a solid recommend to fans of arty softcore cinema by way of the New York underground, and for fans of Lowry and Woronov, who are quite lovely. If you own the Vinegar Syndrome release I would be hard-pressed to say this is worth double-dipping, but it is a solid HD option.
Screenshots from the Troma Blu-ray:
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