Zombie Strippers
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| Zombie Strippers | |
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jay Lee |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Larry Schapiro Andrew Golov Angela J. Lee |
| Written by | Jay Lee |
| Starring | Robert Englund Jenna Jameson Penny Drake Roxy Saint Jessica Custodio Tito Ortiz |
| Music by | Billy White Acre |
| Cinematography | Jay Lee |
| Distributed by | Stage 6 Films Triumph Films |
| Release date(s) | April 18, 2008 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Zombie Strippers is a 2008 zombie comedy, written and directed by Jay Lee, starring Robert Englund, Jenna Jameson, and Tito Ortiz and distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It is based on the French existential Theatre of the Absurd play Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film opens with a news montage explaining that it is set in a dystopic near-future in which the second Bush Administration -- which has been elected to a fourth term (even though the actual U.S. Constitution limits the president to just two terms, or, 8 years total) -- has disbanded the United States Congress; has banned public nudity nation-wide; and, is embroiled in wars with France, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Canada, and Alaska (which has seceded from the U.S.A.). Facing a situation in which there are more wars than there are soldiers to fight them, a secret laboratory run by Dr. Chushfeld (Brad Milne) in Sartre, Nebraska has developed a virus to re-animate dead marines and send them back into battle. However, the virus has broken containment and infected test subjects and scientists are at risk of escaping the lab. A team of marines codenamed the "Z" Squad is sent in to destroy the zombies, but one of the marines named Byrdflough (Zak Kilberg) is bitten and escapes. The infected marine ends up in an alley outside an underground strip club named Rhino. The marine dies and awakens as a zombie that goes into the club.
Rhino is run by Ian Essko (Robert Englund). A new stripper named Jessy (Jennifer Holland) has arrived at the club to save up enough money for her grandmother's operation. She is introduced to the club's star dancer, an intellectual stripper (in one of the earlier scenes she is shown reading "The complete works of Friedrich Nietzsche" before her strip dance is to begin) named Kat (Jenna Jameson). Kat begins her dance on the stage, but is attacked by Byrdflough, who ends up biting and infecting her. Essko is concerned about losing his best dancer, so he lets her go back on stage as a zombie. To everyone's surprise, Kat is a better and more popular dancer as a zombie than she was as a human.
The other strippers now find themselves faced with the prospect of losing their customers, since the men now prefer zombie strippers instead of human strippers. One by one, the human strippers become zombies, some by choice in order to compete or (in the case of a Goth stripper Lillith played by Roxy Saint) for fun. During private dances, the zombie strippers bite and kill their customers. Essko tries to keep the zombies hidden in a cage in the club's cellar, but eventually, the zombies escape and overrun the club. The strippers fight each other for supremacy, which includes a moment where Kat shoots ping-pong and billiard balls out of her vagina at her opponent.
The remaining humans in the club struggle to survive until the "Z" Squad burst in to destroy the zombies. But they discover that the zombies were allowed to escape by the Bush Administration, in the hopes that the ensuing zombie plague would distract Americans from their gross mishandling of the war effort and the economy.
[edit] Cast
- Jenna Jameson as Kat
- Robert Englund as Ian
- Roxy Saint as Lillith
- Penny Drake as Sox
- Joey Medina as Paco
- Whitney Anderson as Gaia
- Jennifer Holland as Jessy
- Shamron Moore as Jeannie
- Jeannette Sousa as Berengé
- Carmit Levité as Madame Blavatski
- John Hawkes as Davis
- Brad Milne as Dr. Chushfeld
- Zak Kilberg as Byrdflough
- Jen Alex Gonzalez as Lt. Ryker
[edit] Release
[edit] Home media
[edit] Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 13 October 2008 | DVD |
| USA | 27 October 2008 | DVD |
[edit] Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Top 40 DVD Chart | 40 |
| USA Top 50 DVD Chart | 11 |
[edit] Critical reception
The film has received mixed reviews from critics who have criticised its poor production values, attempts at satire, and execution, while recognising its intentionally camp style. As of August 20, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 41% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 51 reviews.[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 45 out of 100, based on 14 reviews.[2]
Of the film, Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper stated, "It looks terrible. It doesn't work as camp. It doesn't work as low budget crap"; while Dennis Harvey of Variety Magazine called it a "one-joke pic". In contrast, Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter thought that there was something "perversely affecting" about the film, despite its "lame political satire".[3]
[edit] See also
- Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! (also known as Strippers vs Zombies)
- Dance of the Dead
[edit] References
- ^ "Zombie Strippers Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/zombie_strippers/. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ "Zombie Strippers (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/zombiestrippers. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes: Top Critics
