Danseuses zombies

I was once a big fan of zombie movies, but then I caught a number of the barrage of 'low budget' zombie flicks and quickly lost interest in the genre. It's not that the zombie film doesn't work well with a low budget; the main problem was that a lot of them work from the same idea and it gets boring quickly. It seems, however, that certain filmmakers have noticed the problem and modern films such as Zombie Honeymoon and this one have decided to deliver something a bit different - and while still silly, the result is much better than 'just another' low budget zombie flick! The plot supposedly takes inspiration from a French play called 'Rhinoceros' (referenced by the strip club, called "Rhino") and focuses on a group of strippers. As the Bush Administration enters its fourth term, America has found itself looking for a way to make its soldiers last longer to help the war effort on multiple fronts. The solution comes in the form of a virus that brings the dead back to life. When the virus infects a stripper at the club, sleazy owner Ian (Robert Englund) realises the girl's new potential and puts her back on stage. After whipping the crowd into a frenzy; the rest of the girls find themselves with a choice to make. Do they stay human and stay second best to the zombie stripper…or do they conform to the latest 'fad'?

There's no denying that Zombie Strippers is a silly low budget zombie film, but perversely it would seem that the filmmakers actually wanted to make something of it; and we also get a muddled social satire along with a commentary on conformity. I have to admit that none of this really comes through in any sort of meaningful way, but you have to give a low budget zombie movie with a porn star in the lead role credit for trying! The thing I liked most about this movie is undoubtedly the club where most of the action takes place. Director Jay Lee creates a dark and seedy atmosphere which really benefits the tone of the film and makes for a great backdrop for the girls' strip dances! The leading lady is the lovely Miss Jenna Jameson. I can't say I've ever seen anything else with her in it, and while she's not really my 'type', she certainly knows how to put on a performance - her introduction and first dance as a zombie are the highlights of the film. The movie also features the talent of the lovely Roxy Saint; both in the acting and music department. The soundtrack for the film really is awesome too and helps to enhance the sleazed qualities of the movie; 'Salute You' by Roxy Saint is a memorable track. The film doesn't hold back in the gore department either, which is nice. The film is already pretty silly from the beginning and it just gets sillier as it goes along. At times I felt things were getting just a bit too silly, but after a while you realise that it's easier just to sit back and go along with it. Zombie Strippers is a long way from being a masterpiece; but I'm sure that this film will find it's audience and anyone that enjoys this sort of stuff will have a blast with Zombie Strippers!

It's a zombie flick performed by porn actors. What were you expecting? As porn horror goes, I think that this is the best that you can hope for. Lots of carnage and boobies. Hey, that's an element for success. I was actually quite impressed that they could pull this off for just one million dollars.

You can't expect anything more from big boobs with guns, but on that score, this movie really rates. It's cheap and campy, and does nothing to further the human condition, but it doesn't try to. It's real porn stars acting like zombies. That rates in my book (not that I've ever seen any porn movies).

If you're looking for depth, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for heaving breasts bouncing to rhythmic automatic weapons fire, this is your flick.

Unfortunately, Robert Englund shows that he has no acting chops here.

In a near future, President George Bush has been just elected for the fourth time with his vice Arnold Schwarzenegger and the USA is in war against many nations, among them Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, France and Alaska. In order to compensate the loss of soldiers, the government is researching a virus to reanimate the dead tissue of deceased soldiers and reactivate their brains, to form a powerful army of undead. When the experiment goes wrong and gets out of control in a facility in Sartre, Nebraska, the efficient Z Squad is summoned to destroy the zombies. However, the soldier Byrdflough (Zak Kilberg) is bitten by a zombie and afraid of being killed, he escapes to the underground Brademus strip-club owned by the greedy Ianna Esco (Robert Englund). Byrdflough bites the star Kat (Jenna Jameson) and the stripper spreads the virus, turning her colleagues into zombies and eating the flesh of their clients.

I am a big fan of zombie movies, and "Zombie Strippers!" is an underrated B-movie with potential of cult-movie. The predictable story is very similar to "Planet Terror" and other movies of zombies, i.e., a military experiment that accidentally releases a deadly virus that transforms people into zombies, but the joke in the beginning with President Bush is unique. Further, there are many sexy strippers, black humor, hilarious lines and situations and great special effects and Gothic music score, and this gore film is very entertaining. I am not familiar with adult movies, but the sexy Jenna Jameson is a porn-star from this industry. Jennifer Holland is also extremely gorgeous and sexy and I liked this movie a lot. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "As Strippers Zumbis" ("The Zombie Strippers")

Note: On 20 February 2016, I saw this film again.

Note: On 29 September 2020, I saw this film again.

This is poorly made in most respects, and that's part of its appeal. In fact, I liked it. It has more jokes, and better jokes than any of the parody movies I've seen in years.

Here's the setup. W Bush has stolen a fourth term and declared war on a dozen countries, including France. So many soldiers are getting killed that labs have invented a virus that reanimates them so that they can keep on fighting, and harder. This virus gets into a stripper establishment with the result that the strippers once infected get "better," or at least more popular with the goofs.

Sounds like it could be a mess, and it is. I think of it as some sort of triangulation among Tarantino's fake sleaze "Death Proof," but more genuine, "10,000 Corpses" but with something other than snarls and "Shaun of the Dead" but with more clever jokes.

The interesting thing is that there are breasts here. But they are part of the irony, the big joke. They are deliberately depicted to be as artificially defective as the zombie countenance. In fact, the folding here is that we have an on-screen audience of male louts who reward the zombie strippers above the "regular" girls, so they willingly become zombies to be sexier.

The jokes range from cinematic jokes to comments on social issues, and they are at a higher level than usual.

One of the strippers is a former Playmate and that's supposed to be some sort of draw. Its hard to tell which one.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I thought of giving it a higher mark because the moments that work do work extremely well. Problem is is that sometimes it's hard to tell why we are laughing. One moment it seems like the filmmaker is not in on the joke but then along come moments so blatantly outrageous with cues (such as music or the way something is framed) that make one thing the filmmaker is aware of the tone of a scene and how the acting and the comedy and the horror, etc. are working. In any case the shifts in tone were a little hard to get used to. The gore is sometimes very delicious and creative with attention paid to fans of organic gore. Sometimes it looks plain old cheesy, bad CGI style gore. The acting is overall good, even when over the top. However for my taste no matter how aware they were of their own "bad" performances I think the movie could have benefited from a lot less "Look at my bad performance wink wink" acting and more of the playing-it-straight acting (believe it or not Jenna Jameson is one of the more successful at keeping this in mind). Robert Englund strikes just the right balance between over-the-top and playing it straight, he stops shy of taking it too far. O yea and although not really partial in that hormonal way to T & A I must admit what the movie offers is sure to please. The dancing is fun to watch in the first section and bizarre and hilarious in the second (I refuse to spoil).