Zombie Strippers (DVD)

...tune into a movie like Zombie Strippers and expect a high calibre storyline, and A list quality actors; and providing you are fully aware of this and enter with pretty low expectations you'll be unlikely to get upset by this movie.

Looking like a nasty little porn movie, in that it has that sort of seedy haze that surrounds anything; Zombie Strippers will disappoint the brown raincoat brigade the most, because its deceptive title gives ...
...time to zip back up. Zombie Strippers aims firmly at exploiting the title to deceive its viewers (although their certainly are zombie strippers) playing the movie mainly for laughs. "Oh my God their zombies", "No they're strippers", "They're zombie strippers!" being the sort of stellar comedy line to expect from this offering, yes it's not that funny but in the context its used it's not a bad attempt. If you like your ... more

With no offence meant to anyone, I think you would need to be incredibly silly to tune into a movie like Zombie Strippers and expect a high calibre storyline, and A list quality actors; and providing you are fully aware of this and enter with pretty low expectations you'll be unlikely to get upset by this movie.

Looking like a nasty little porn movie, in that it has that sort of seedy haze that surrounds anything; Zombie Strippers will disappoint the brown raincoat brigade the most, because its deceptive title gives you certain expectations, with only one semi naked scene in the whole movie which only lasts a few seconds, Guys it's time to zip back up. Zombie Strippers aims firmly at exploiting the title to deceive its viewers (although their certainly are zombie strippers) playing the movie mainly for laughs. "Oh my God their zombies", "No they're strippers", "They're zombie strippers!" being the sort of stellar comedy line to expect from this offering, yes it's not that funny but in the context its used it's not a bad attempt. If you like your humour a little tongue in cheek, cheesy, or just plain sick then this is a movie for you.

Set in the new future and George W. Bush has just begun his fourth term as the president of the US, Arnold Schwarzenegger as his Vice President. While America gets fat on his ridiculous plans, wars continue around the planet in all existing countries we are aware of, and now most importantly Alaska. For reasons best known to the movies creator, a group of soldiers burst into a underground bunker where zombies are being made by Bush's "W" factory. This bunker just so happens to lead onto a strip joint, and when only one man gets out from the bunker he is unaware that he has been infected by the terrible disease. It's Kat (Jenna Jameson) that is on the receiving end of the soldiers bite, but as the strip clubs main attraction, she is aware that the show must go on, even if she is dead.

If you excuse her work on the Vice City games Zombie Strippers is the first non pornographic role for the "actress" and as rather bad actresses goes, she does a reasonable job holding things together. It's clear she has a lot of fun making money without having to degrade herself (though I'm sure she would not think it degrading). Her character of Kat is an intellectual stripper studying the works of the great genius's of the last 200 years, all of which she manages but has more luck with understanding after her death, one of many strippers with surprising intelligence, working bang against the stereotypes often given to this sort of performer. One of the consistent "in" jokes of the movie is how they continuously correct those around them, when they either misquote someone or say something intellectual that's slightly wrong.

Zombie Strippers is not the normal zombie movie, all of the victims in the movie continue along like normal to a certain extent after becoming infected. While they need to get their lips round some human flesh, they all are quite happy to let the show go on performing for the regulars at the strip club.

No cheesy horror movie would be complete without Nightmare On Elm Street actor Robert Englund, who here stars as Ian the strip club owner. Englund delivers the usual unpleasantness he always does in a movie but this time with a little more laughable humour. Like the captain of the ship, he is more than happy to go down with his vessel, even if it means that someone will have to go down on his (did you see what I did there?).

Of interest is Jessy (Jennifer Holland) the schoolgirl virgin who goes to work in the strip joint in order to pay for her grandmothers colostomy bag, and frequent operations. Jesse is the character you watch, waiting to see her transformation from prim and proper to tart with a heart, or at least shotgun wielding stripper, whether she does or not it'll leave a mystery but she is certainly a character to watch, as is her boyfriend Davis (John Hawkes). Davis is the Christian boyfriend of Jessy whose darker side comes out when Jessy comes to perform at the stripjoint. From completely following God his transformation provides the movies biggest laughs (if you call them laughs), from sweet altar boy to foul mouthed wretch any excuse he gets to take advantage of his schoolgirl stripper girlfriend he will take, "What not even an angry dragon?" he asks having again been rejected for a little action, where he picks up the phrases from is nobody's business but he would certainly give internet site The Urban Dictionary a run for their money.

Fans of the movie The Warriors will enjoy the rather bloody "Warriors come out to playayyyy!" skit, it will make your flesh drop off.

There is a great body count, each death met with humour and a smile, but essentially there is little to this movie. It's very much the sort of thing you'd find late night on a satellite channel, it's nothing new but certainly a far cry away from being the worst horror movie I have seen in awhile, in fact if you compare it to recent movies like Shutter, Zombie Strippers towers above it.

Zombie Strippers is due at a few horror festivals throughout the UK , before a limited cinema screening on the week of 19th September. Then the movie heads to DVD on the 27th of October.

Spencer Hawken 06/08 

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