"Zombie Strippers!" (2007) (Zombie Strippers (DVD))

Member Name: jbsabbath

Product:	Zombie Strippers (DVD)
Date:	29/11/08 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Robert Englund, the Mexican janitor, lots of blood

Disadvantages: Horrendous plot, acting, script, production-budget and CGI

Just when you thought movie titles couldn't get any sillier, along comes "Zombie Strippers!", a film that does just what it says on the tin and then boasts about it.

"They'll dance for a fee, but devour you for free!"

In the near future, under its fourth Bush administration, America is embroiled in a number of wars across the globe, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, France and Alaska, and to continue its policing of the world the US requires a new type of soldier, a new breed of loyal marine who when shot down will just get back up again and continue fighting.

In a top secret military lab, a bunch of scientists might just have the answer, but instead of creating a band of undead loyal to their country, they've created a bunch of flesh-hungry zombies who promptly break containment!

A squad of soldiers are sent in to clear up the mess, but one of their troop is bitten and escapes into an underground, illegal strip club owned by the notorious Ian Essko, played by Robert Englund, where the star of the show Kat, played by Jenna Jameson, is baring all for the flesh-hungry audience.

Once Kat turns into a zombie that wants to strip, it becomes obvious that zombies are better at it than their living co-workers, so more and more of Ian's staff of girls give in to becoming undead, offering private sessions with the audience who don't realise they're being taken backstage to be the latest snack.

With the money rolling in, can Ian keep the zombies and his own greed under control?

This is pure low-budget exploitation for the Tarantino 'grindhouse' audience.

With it being mostly studio-bound, it would appear that most of the money was spent on the appearence of Englund and on the buckets of blood and guts on show.

In other words, this film doesn't shy away from showing plenty of entrails, arms falling off, heads being torn open, etc, and there are plenty of grisly scenes for the horror-enthusiast to enjoy, but these are coupled with a few pretty poor CGI moments, which look especially ridiculous and unneeded.

However, as the title suggests, this is part comedy (the Mexican janitor is hilarious), and there are certainly moments that are amusing, but ultimately this movie, as you would expect, has no artistic merit whatsoever and should only be viewed when the rest of your DVD choices are looking ulta-grim and dull.

The star of the show is quite easily Robert Englund, Mr. Freddy Kruegar himself, who does his best Vincent Price and plays the greedy, dirty old man very well, gurning and laughing hysterically throughout.

With the horror fans satisfied by the horror-legend's presence, the porn fans will be satisfied with porn actress Jenna Jameson's role as the head-stripper, and ultimately the head zombie-stripper.

Her 'performance' is adequate at best and it was never going to be, or needed to be, Olivier in greatness, as, for most of the female cast in this picture, her role is reduced to strutting bare-breasted and sliding up and down a pole for long, drawn-out scenes.

This is ultimately a guy's movie with its reliance on fantasy and blood, but there is a hilarious scene of the leg-crossing, cringing nature to be warned of, so prepare to have nightmares.

Combining a shoddy script, drab setting, poor acting and crap music, "Zombie Strippers!" is most certainly an awful movie and definitely not "Shaun of the Dead", bringing about a form of necrophilia I never needed to know about.

[The DVD can be purchased from play.com for £8.99 including postage and packing (at time of writing). The DVD contains a making-of, deleted scenes and a commentary by director / writer Jay Lee.]

Summary: Pointless movie, but it does have the whole 'so bad it's good' thing going on