Zombie Strippers!

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 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!

"Zombie Strippers" manages a preternatural combination of theater of the absurd, hot pink lingerie, and the Smith and Wesson air soft pump action shotgun.

The ability of the 20th century's major Continental philosophies to adapt to the 3rd millennium is examined through the competing Weltanschauung of a cadre of sharply divided strippers in the American Midwest.

The characters are forced to define and own their ontology when a government manufactured zombie virus is unleashed. Yes, it may be possible to continue stripping after coming back from messy death, but is there more to life?

Ultimately, both the Nietzschean Ubermensch and Satre's existential despair are shown to be inadequate responses to the human condition, as well as to the zombie condition. In fact, a greater level of alienation then has been previously imagined is shown to be possible when a being is left severed from humanity while still sentient.

The failing Gestalt of excessively broad Panglossian optimism is laid bare, along with the entire cast. Rather than presenting a justification for self-annihilating submission to a mob which demands conformity as payment for acceptance, the protagonists must embrace individualism both qua the only reasonable way to survive and qua the innate demand of humanity.

Sacrificing the enduring emotional vitality and undeniable free will of a human life span for the illusion of release to be found in reanimation leads only to unrecoverable angst for those strippers who submit to the zombie virus.

This piece is properly read as a modern re-assessment of the lessons the Enlightenment. While a cynical view of religion's ability to define the scope and meaning of life is buttressed, we all - even a zombie in her actual death throws - must account for our choices. Infinite rebirths are not an option.

Meanwhile, fresh philosophical challenges are brought to bear in the characters of an aging Russian lap dancer and her harsh pragmatism and Paco, the illegal janitor who draws on his own cultural traditions to script a deeply personal reaction to the zombification of his co- workers.

Numerous definitions of humanity are tested: rationalism, logic, empathy - but it ultimately our ability to choose life and to find beauty in the sheer act of being alive that separates the living from the merely undead. The audience is asked to reconcile being human and being alive, having first debated if there is is a foundational schism at all.

More deep is the question hinted at and left unanswered by the film: if science, in the form of a toupe wearing lab tech who unleashes a chemo- virus that reanimates dead flesh, unleashes evil; and if the humanities, in the form of remarkably fresh looking strippers who toss off gems of epistemological wisdom between turns on the stage, are left to address the terrible question of whether to choose zombification for greater tips, where is the solution?

Believers in eleatic monism may be disappointed, but anyone who has ever wrestled with Being and Becoming will find some common themes dressed up like new with nipple tassles.

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 movie is suppose to be bad. It was made that way. The actors knew it was bad, the director knew it was bad, the producers knew it was bad, that's why they made it... and that's what makes it so good.

If you like 'B' movies, especially zombie 'B' movies then you should have no problems appreciating the over-the-top soft-core sex and head-exploding gore in all its glory.

All you need to know about the plot is that ex-hard-core porn star Jenn Jamison and her stripper buddies get infected by a government super virus that is suppose to make soldiers continue to be able to fight... even after they're dead. In effect, making them Super Soldiers. Well this works for the girls making them into Super Strippers, except that their dead. So their Super Zombie Strippers.

Gratuitous sex and violence, exploding heads, zombies, strippers, gore, T & A. What more could you ask for? As for those who have rated this movie so poorly... they just can't appreciate the genius behind Zombie Strippers.

P.S. Look for a cameo by Jenna Jameson's long-time boyfriend and UFC icon Tito Ortiz as the bouncer/doorman.