Without a doubt this film definitely fits into the category of b-movies it contains everything associated with the content, insane title, gore, plenty of T&A, campy dialogue, silly aspects galore, low budget, and  mentality driven straight at a certain segment of horror fans, you know who you are, no hiding. Directed and written by Jay Lee who previously did Alyce Kills [2011], brings forth a film inspired and very loosely based on Romanian-French playwright Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, where friends all become the species. However, Lee takes that and changes it in the species of zombies, using an underground club as the breeding ground for, you guess it, Zombie Strippers. Lee expertly handles filming the project on an 18-day shooting schedule on a low budgeted amount of $1 million, successfully distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on DVD. A brief note, this film of Lee’s contains no connection to director Alex Nicolaou’s Zombies vs. Strippers [2012], and keeps all the insanity wrapped up in his own movie.

When the doctor at the start of the film, set in 2016, is looking at the zombies he says “behold a pale horse” a well known line from Johnny Cash’s song “The Man Comes Around” used in Dawn of the Dead [2004]. The viewers quickly learn that the film satirizes the political landscape with Dictator George W. Bush, who outlawed nudity, and hence the strip club in the movie highly illegal and yet nearby to a government biohazard facility. A group of military so-called elite squad (begin laughter) fail to contain the viral outbreak one escapes to spread the zombie plague at you guess it, Rhino’s, own by Ian (Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street [1984])) with his top stripper Kat (Jenna Jameson). An avalanche of attempts at humor (gross, racial, and political) start but all feel quite disjointed and very much less than enthralled, but a positive Englund’s character stays for entire movie, no cameo role this time. It takes zero time from the plague to start and Ian showing his sleazy appetite to everyone, especially realizing the dead don’t need money just bodies, no one needs to know, it’s all illegal anyway. More zombie action starts, with each having lengthy strip scenes since with supercharge energy of the infection, however how many times could one watch a zombie stripper without becoming bored. Lilith, a gothic stripper (Roxy Saint) wanton for more popularity offer themselves to the infected, and then feed their hunger by biting guys while giving them private lap-dances (some gory moments). A problem arises making Ian rethink his business plan and the male zombies, not controllable hence locking them away a short-term fix. There’s a weird and perhaps bizarre fight with Jameson shoving billiard balls into the nether region, shooting them with incredible force, the concept came from strip club lore of a dancer able to do a similar act with ping pong balls with accuracy. Definitely, a crazy flick, Jameson steals the stripper scenes, but she and Englund not enough to save the movie from the gutter.

This movie as stated contains many twisted actions, though still not quite a Troma movie it does have some choice footage, for the lower end of enjoyment and zombie silliness. The film becomes a battle of gore versus nudity, and perhaps the T&A wins outright, after all strippers covered in gore only appealing to a few, especially when they feed on their patrons and fans. However, a greatness of fun found it missing a key factor, with the digital effects, not everything gets better with tech, old school practical effects in b-movies excel fantastically well. Now the makeup department worked overtime for the oozing wounds, slimy rotting flesh, and noting the change in body color to aging degrees of death, especially on the strippers. Aside from the effects, and overload of nudity, the dialogue suffers greatly, some struggle to get through multiple lines and actually change near the end to single shorter cheesy phrases.

All one can say about this film, plenty of everything exists, which includes a smorgasbord of gore, T&A, blood, guts, and gruesome interactions with zombies and their customers, and interest hands-free game of billiards, all to attempt to distract the average viewer from the errors in the flick. Easily one may describe this as a true group film, a few beers and blast off for a trip of goofy zombie indulgence.

This review was originally published in Rogue Cinema’s June 2017 (final month of their 13-year run).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960890/

IMDb Rating: 4.1/10

Baron’s Rating: 4.0/10