Week of Reel Whorror!: Dead is Better Day 3

Zombie Strippers

Release: 04.18.08
Rated R
1 hour, 34 minutes

Second Run Seats

Stop me if you've heard this one; a soldier infected with an engineered virus stumbles into an illegal strip club and bites its headliner, Kat (Jenna Jameson, Private Parts). Despite dying, Kat rises from the dead, with her faculties and dexterity intact (unlike her infector), and promptly goes back to working the pole. The only real change, aside from the gaping hole in her throat, is she now prefers to be paid in man-flesh rather than dollar bills. Though the patrons are dropping like flies, club owner Ian (Robert Englund, Hatchet) doesn't care because guys are going wild to see zombie strippers!

You'd think Reel Whore would be equally wild about strippers nudefying themselves to lure men into the private room and literally devour them, but it was no great shakes. Granted, I didn't expect more than zombies and strippers and the combination of the two, but in the end I wanted... less.  

Zombie Strippers opens on an "elite" special forces team sent to eradicate the zombie threat. It's a testosterone-engorged bloodbath that establishes the hokey, low-budget mood. The strip club is where things really go wrong, both behind and in front of, the camera. Writer-director Jay Lee effectively illustrates the seedy, sex-crazed nature of the club, but introduces contemplative strippers who work hard for the money while seeking higher enlightenment. The awkwardly muttered philosophizing is kitschy at first, but when it's still spewing at the eighty-minute mark it's bothersome.

Dirty Undies

If you've come looking for stripping and zombie stripping, you'll get your fill twice over. Some actresses, like veteran adult performer Jameson, are quite impressive in both pre- and post-mortem forms. Others look sexy and then disturbingly hot as they do their Stripper 101 routines. Stripping in one form or another accounts for at least forty-five minutes of the movie, so if you were hoping for more substantial story, I suggest you move along. Stripping works up quite an appetite; the girls rip their patrons apart like tear-away hot pants, spilling spongy, right-red innards everywhere.

The Money Shot

I wish I could say come for the zombie strippers, stay for the story, but I'd be lying. As enjoyable as it can be at times, Zombie Strippers has a lot of wasted potential. Even mindless entertainment shouldn't leave audiences craving more. 

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