Zombie Strippers! (2008)

Directed by: Jay Lee | 94 minutes | horror, comedy | Actors: Jenna Jameson, Robert Englund, Roxy Saint, Joey Medina, Shamron Moore, Penny Drake, Jennifer Holland, John Hawkes, Jeannette Sousa, Whitney Anderson, Carmit Levité, Calvin Green, Zak Kilberg, Catero Colbert, Jen Alex Gonzalez

As can be deduced from the title, ‘Zombie Strippers’ is a film about scantily clad female undead who feast on their patronage. The film is set in a near future that doesn’t look too bright for the United States. President George W. Bush is now in his fourth term, a development that has meant that America no longer only has to worry about the hotbeds of Afghanistan and Iraq, but is also at war with Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, among others. France and even its own state of Alaska. To keep the US military numbers up to scratch, the government has set up a research lab to revive dead soldiers and create a division of undead super-soldiers. It should come as no surprise that this experiment goes horribly wrong when one of the zombie soldiers manages to escape and takes up residence in the nearby Rhino’s strip club. His first victim is stripper Kat, who quickly turns into a bloodthirsty, yet extremely agile and popular undead pole dancer.

As the title and description above suggest, we are not dealing here with a film that will compete for the favors of the serious and more sophisticated film critics. ‘Zombie Strippers’ is in many ways just a cheap pulp film with ditto dialogues, acting and story development. However, the makers are well aware of this and have clearly never intended to make a quality print or to earn tons of money. The result is a film that is somewhere between a black comedy, a (sometimes hilarious) parody of the zombie genre and a very plastic horror spectacle. The great strength of ‘Zombie Strippers’ is that the print never takes itself too seriously. This is evident from the fact that ex-porn star Jenna Jameson plays a prominent role. In terms of acting, it is of course all very meager what this lady shows, but she does manage to put down a nice parody of the stripper profession and her own person. For example, the character played by Jameson fills her breaks by reading and quoting from the collected works of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In any case, it is noticeable that the makers regularly refer to philosophers or philosophical phrases, for example by situating the story in the (probably fictional) town of Sartre in the state of Nebraska. However, the show is stolen by veteran Robert Englund, who seems to feel like a fish in water in this production. He plays the cynical owner of the Rhino’s strip club, who suffers from contamination (!) . Englund plays an incredibly wrong character, exaggerates his role considerably, but still manages to shape his character in such a way that it never becomes too ridiculous or infantile.

Yes, ‘Zombie Strippers’ also has a more serious political undertone that is wrapped in various jokes and subtle and less subtle references. For example, President Bush and the Republicans, especially in the beginning of the film, get hit hard. Not all jokes about the president who will resign in 2008 and his conservative supporters are equally successful, but the more subtle witticisms in particular work wonderfully. An organization such as the NRA (National Rifle Association) is also ridiculed in a scene in which Englund shows off his impressive arsenal, but then does not know how to use his rifles in practice. He justifies this by stating that membership in the NRA entitles you to own guns, but doesn’t mean you actually need to know how to handle them. After all, Mexican cleaner Paco is a welcome hook for a myriad of jokes about Mexicans.

If you want to see a high-quality film, you’d better skip ‘Zombie Strippers’. However, if you’re in a corny mood and don’t mind the necessary gallons of blood splashing around and spicy-dressed, gut-hungry pole dancers, this film could possibly guarantee a decent viewing experience. Truly a film for the ‘fans’.