Zombie Strippers
Encyclopedia
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
. The film is loosely based on Eugene Ionesco
's classic play Rhinoceros
.
has been elected to a fourth term. The United States Congress
has been disbanded; public nudity is banned; the United States is embroiled in wars with France
, Iraq
, Afghanistan
, Iran
, Pakistan
, Syria
, Venezuela
, Canada
, and Alaska
. With more wars than there are soldiers to fight them, a secret laboratory run by Dr. Chushfeld (Brad Milne) in fictional Sartre, Nebraska, has developed a virus to re-animate dead Marines and send them back into battle. However, this virus has broken containment and infected test subjects and scientists, and they are at risk of escaping the lab. A team of Marines codenamed the "Z" Squad is sent in to destroy the zombies. One of the Marines named Byrdflough (Zak Kilberg) is bitten but escapes. He ends up in an alley outside an underground strip club
named "Rhino". The Marine dies and awakens as a zombie who goes into the strip 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, Kat (Jenna Jameson
). Kat begins her dance on the stage, but is attacked by Byrdflough. 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 to human strippers. One by one, the human strippers become zombies, some by choice in order to compete or (in the case of a Gothic rock
stripper Lillith) 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. Kat and the underrated stripper Jeanni (Shamron Moore) fight for supremacy.
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.
. As of August 20, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 41% of critics gave the movie positive reviews, based on 51 reviews. Metacritic
reported that this movie had an average score of 45 out of 100, based on 14 reviews.
About the movie, Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper
stated, "It looks terrible. It doesn't work as camp. It doesn't work as low budget crap", Dennis Harvey of Variety Magazine also called it a "one-joke pic". In contrast, Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter thought that there was something "perversely affecting" about this movie, despite its "lame political satire".
Zombie comedy
The zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as dark comedy.-Early years:...
, written and directed by Jay Lee, starring Robert Englund
Robert Englund
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
, Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson is an American entrepreneur and former pornographic actress, who has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn."...
, and Tito Ortiz
Tito Ortiz
Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is a Mexican-American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars...
and distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
. The film is loosely based on Eugene Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
's classic play Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros (play)
Rhinoceros is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd...
.
Plot
This movie opens with a news montage explaining that it is set in a dystopic near-future in which George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
has been elected to a fourth term. The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
has been disbanded; public nudity is banned; the United States is embroiled in wars with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. With more wars than there are soldiers to fight them, a secret laboratory run by Dr. Chushfeld (Brad Milne) in fictional Sartre, Nebraska, has developed a virus to re-animate dead Marines and send them back into battle. However, this virus has broken containment and infected test subjects and scientists, and they are at risk of escaping the lab. A team of Marines codenamed the "Z" Squad is sent in to destroy the zombies. One of the Marines named Byrdflough (Zak Kilberg) is bitten but escapes. He ends up in an alley outside an underground strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
named "Rhino". The Marine dies and awakens as a zombie who goes into the strip club.
"Rhino" is run by Ian Essko (Robert Englund
Robert Englund
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
). 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, Kat (Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson is an American entrepreneur and former pornographic actress, who has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn."...
). Kat begins her dance on the stage, but is attacked by Byrdflough. 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 to human strippers. One by one, the human strippers become zombies, some by choice in order to compete or (in the case of a Gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
stripper Lillith) 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. Kat and the underrated stripper Jeanni (Shamron Moore) fight for supremacy.
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.
Cast
- Jenna JamesonJenna JamesonJenna Jameson is an American entrepreneur and former pornographic actress, who has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn."...
as Kat - Robert EnglundRobert EnglundRobert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
as Ian - Roxy SaintRoxy SaintRoxy Saint is an American singer, musician, video producer, director, and actress who started singing at age 17. She's known for her role in the film Zombie Strippers and as the lead performer in the goth band Roxy Saint and the Blackouts.-Career:...
as Lillith - Penny DrakePenny DrakePenny Drake is an American Independent film actress and model. She is the daughter of a Southern Baptist pastor.Her modelling career since 2008 has included work for Herra Couture, Flora Zeta and Ed Hardy...
as Sox - Joey Medina as Paco
- Whitney AndersonWhitney AndersonWhitney T. Anderson is an American politician and businessman from Waimanalo, Hawaii. He is the younger brother of D.G. "Andy" Anderson.He served for a total of 20 years in both chambers of the Hawaii State Legislature...
as Gaia - Jennifer Holland as Jessy
- Shamron Moore as Jeannie
- Jeannette Sousa as Berengé
- Carmit Levité as Madame Blavatski
- John D. Hawkes as Davis
- Brad Milne as Dr. Chushfeld
- Zak Kilberg as Byrdflough
- Jen Alex Gonzalez as Lt. Ryker
- Tito OrtizTito OrtizJacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is a Mexican-American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars...
as Door Bouncer - Margad as fighter
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
13 October 2008 | DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
| USA | 27 October 2008 | DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Top 40 DVD Chart | 40 |
| USA Top 50 DVD Chart | 11 |
Critical reception
This movie has received mixed reviews from critics who have criticised its poor production values, poor attempts at satire, and poor execution, while recognizing its intentionally camp styleCamp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
. As of August 20, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 41% of critics gave the movie positive reviews, based on 51 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported that this movie had an average score of 45 out of 100, based on 14 reviews.
About the movie, Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
At the Movies was a movie review television program produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics shared their opinions of newly released films. The program aired under various names...
stated, "It looks terrible. It doesn't work as camp. It doesn't work as low budget crap", Dennis Harvey of Variety Magazine also called it a "one-joke pic". In contrast, Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter thought that there was something "perversely affecting" about this movie, despite its "lame political satire".
See also
- Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! is an American zombie comedy film directed by Jason M. Murphy, and stars Tiffany Shepis, Hollie Winnard and Jay Laga'aia...
(also known as Strippers vs Zombies) - Big Tits ZombieBig Tits Zombieis a 2010 Japanese fantasy-horror film. It was adapted from the manga Kyonyū Dragon by Rei Mikamoto, and stars several known faces from Japan's adult movie industry, most notably Sora Aoi. It is directed by Japanese cult satirist Takao Nakano and much of the action is shot in 3D...
– a 2010 Japanese fantasy-horror film, adapted from the manga Kyonyū Dragon - 2008 in film2008 in filmThis is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
External links
at Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
- Zombie Strippers at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Zombie Strippers at Yahoo! MoviesYahoo! MoviesYahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...
- Trailer at Apple.com