Stripped to Kill

Female police detective Cody Sheenan (Kay Lenz) goes undercover as a pole dancer to try and find out who has been killing the girls working at the Rock Bottom strip club (where all the profits are funnelled into elaborate stage props, smoke machines, neon signs and lava lamps).

With Stripped To Kill, director Katt Shea Ruben proves that women are just as capable of making voyeuristic exploitation as men, her debut film loaded with gratuitous female nudity solely designed to titillate the viewer. The majority of her film consists of expertly handled stripping scenes that benefit from glossy photography and stylish lighting, the girls showing off their toned and extremely flexible bodies in well choreographed dance routines.

While Cody is on stage proving that she has a rockin' bod to rival even the hottest stripper, her designer-stubbled partner Detective Heineman (Greg Evigan) is on the beat trying to track down suspect Mr. Pocket (Peter Scranton), a weirdo who has an obsession with the Rock Bottom performers.

Starting with the brutal immolation of one of the strippers and closing with a revelation that shouldn't come as much of a surprise (those who don't figure out the twist should be extra wary when chatting up women), Stripped to Kill is slick, consistently entertaining trash, unlikely to win any awards, but fun enough for the duration.

6.5/10, rounded down to 6 for the unnecessary romantic subplot between Sheenan and Heineman which is only there to pad out the runtime, and the fact that a couple of the girls qualify as butterfaces (nice legs, shame about the boat race, as The Monks used to sing).

Somebody is murdering the sexy lady dancers at a low rent strip club in L.A. Ambitious undercover detective Cody Sheehan (Ms. Lenz) decides that she wants the case, and her cheerfully sleazy partner Heineman (Greg Evigan) gets the bright idea to have her pose as a stripper. She wins a gig at the aforementioned club - despite not being much of a dancer - and eventually starts to find that she may be enjoying the prospect of being uninhibited for once.

This stylish movie marked the directing debut for actress Katt Shea. She co-wrote this with her now ex-husband Andy Ruben and went on to direct such things as "Dance of the Damned", "Poison Ivy", and "The Rage: Carrie 2". With Roger Corman as the executive producer, this is engaging, deliberately seedy entertainment. The low budget helps to create a spare, sordid atmosphere, enhanced by the music by John O'Kennedy. Yes, there may be a fair amount of the running time here devoted to protracted dance numbers, but they *are* erotic and well choreographed, with the ladies showing off some great moves.

The lovely Ms. Lenz does a creditable job in the lead. Her character is reasonably strong, in the tradition of Cormans' productions which were often as empowering as they were exploitative. Evigan is amusing and engaging as the somewhat chauvinist Heineman. A glum looking Norman Fell of 'Three's Company' fame wearily walks through his role as the club owner. There are some tantalizingly sexy ladies in the supporting cast; character actress Diana Bellamy has a particularly fun role as a gruff police dispatcher, while exploitation buffs will recognize actor Brad David (who plays the D.J.) from the 70s movies "The Candy Snatchers" and "The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse".

Thankfully, some viewers may actually be caught off guard by the reveal of who the killer is, or at least how they avoided detection for so long.

Overall, this is an enjoyable B picture for lovers of the genre.

Seven out of 10.

My review was written in June 1987 after a screening at Cine 2 theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

"Stripped to Kill" is a solid little thriller set in the world of topless dancing. Nearing the end of its regional theatrical run, pic is likely to do well in the home video market on the basis of its exploitation angles.

Kay Lenz stars as a policewoman in L. A. assigned by her partner Greg Evigan to go undercover, posing as a stripper to catch a serial killer of dancers at a local club. She gets a dancing job from club owner Norman Fell after winning an amateur sriptease contest there with help from an audience stacked with off-duty cops.

Scripters Katt Shea Ruben (former actress who also makes her helming debut here) and Andy Ruben play fair with the audience, offering legitimate clues and red herrings regarding the killers identity. Solution to the whodunit is ingenious; though very difficult to guess even by the alert viewer it is satisfying.

Lenz, firmly established as a sexy screen presence 15 years ago in her debut in Clint Eastwood's "Breezy". Is extremely effective here, faking several stripteases which substitute acting for professional dancing. Director Ruben stylizes the frequent strip sequences, using stylish pastel lighting effects and elaborate, acrobatic choreography by Ted Lin to create more traditional burlesque routines than the strictly sex approach. A cast of maily pro dancers perform well, ditto support roles by Evigan and Fell plus a funny turn by Diana Bellamy as a taciturn lady at police headquarters.

Ladycop Kay Lenz goes undercover as a dancer in a seedy strip joint to investigate a string of murders the club is linked to.

STRIPPED TO KILL is a fast-moving, occasionally clever, and overall above-par sexploitation thriller, and in a cheesy way, it's a pretty sexy one to boot. Unfortunately, some of the the girls playing the strippers are rather average looking(a couple of them might even bark if you offered them a Milk-Bone), and Ms. Lenz's male sidekick in the investigation is a grating character who gets a lot more screen time than he should. Still, this is buoyantly trashy fun, released just as the death-bell tolled for the grindhouse era.

5/10

STRIPPED TO KILL examines the dark, dangerous world of pole dancing. Yes, there are scantily-clad and half-clad women dancing around, on, and up and down poles.

How could this possibly be hazardous?

Well, firstly, there are the injuries that could be incurred through all of that gyrating and wiggling! Whiplash is a definite concern! Worst of all is when a psychotic killer is on the loose, with a particular hatred of poles and their dancers.

Enter Detective Cody Sheenan (Kay Lenz), who goes undercover at the Rock Bottom strip club, run by the world's grumpiest owner (Norman Fell). Obviously, Cody must audition for a job at the club. In spite of being the worst pole dancer in the history of either poles or dancing... she nails it! Her act has a sort of slow-motion, performance art thing going on. Can she catch the misogynistic madman before more poles are left without partners?

If you actually believe that a movie that's called STRIPPED TO KILL could be a serious take on either stripping or homicide, then you are in for utter disappointment. However, if you're looking for a movie with just enough of a plot to justify nearly non-stop topless frivolity, then heaven has come for you! The ludicrous, brain-imploding "shock" finale is laugh-out-loud bananas! Whew!...