Stripped to Kill

A whiskey stream of consciousness review

Opening strip dance sequence is impressive skill. If only the opening song lived up to it. What?! Is that a Mr. Roper sighting? Outstanding. Mr. Roper owns the strip club. So that's where he went when he gave up being Jack tripper's landlord.

Movie includes a few extended strip sequences. Some of the sequences are of poor quality. Probably poor transfer from vhs maybe? As told film progresses, however, their routines grow more and more elaborate. All of the girls are quite talented and show off well. Kay Lenz is excellent as the undercover detective hero and downright cute and tough. And Greg Evigan is also good as punky sword-pierced ear ringed partner, Detective Heineman and their chemistry is surprising considering the low brow subject matter. Heineman drives a Suzuki Samurai- which is also a plus. I'm honestly surprised this doesn't have more of a cult following. There are heaps of entertaining moments, titillation, and a few grisly horror scenes to keep you interested to make up for the few slow takes. Stripped down with a dram of Old Soul select. Cheers!

Ladycop Kay Lenz goes undercover as a dancer in a seedy strip joint to investigate a string of murders the club is linked to.

STRIPPED TO KILL is a fast-moving, occasionally clever, and overall above-par sexploitation thriller, and in a cheesy way, it's a pretty sexy one to boot. Unfortunately, some of the the girls playing the strippers are rather average looking(a couple of them might even bark if you offered them a Milk-Bone), and Ms. Lenz's male sidekick in the investigation is a grating character who gets a lot more screen time than he should. Still, this is buoyantly trashy fun, released just as the death-bell tolled for the grindhouse era.

5/10

STRIPPED TO KILL examines the dark, dangerous world of pole dancing. Yes, there are scantily-clad and half-clad women dancing around, on, and up and down poles.

How could this possibly be hazardous?

Well, firstly, there are the injuries that could be incurred through all of that gyrating and wiggling! Whiplash is a definite concern! Worst of all is when a psychotic killer is on the loose, with a particular hatred of poles and their dancers.

Enter Detective Cody Sheenan (Kay Lenz), who goes undercover at the Rock Bottom strip club, run by the world's grumpiest owner (Norman Fell). Obviously, Cody must audition for a job at the club. In spite of being the worst pole dancer in the history of either poles or dancing... she nails it! Her act has a sort of slow-motion, performance art thing going on. Can she catch the misogynistic madman before more poles are left without partners?

If you actually believe that a movie that's called STRIPPED TO KILL could be a serious take on either stripping or homicide, then you are in for utter disappointment. However, if you're looking for a movie with just enough of a plot to justify nearly non-stop topless frivolity, then heaven has come for you! The ludicrous, brain-imploding "shock" finale is laugh-out-loud bananas! Whew!...

My review was written in June 1987 after a screening at Cine 2 theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

"Stripped to Kill" is a solid little thriller set in the world of topless dancing. Nearing the end of its regional theatrical run, pic is likely to do well in the home video market on the basis of its exploitation angles.

Kay Lenz stars as a policewoman in L. A. assigned by her partner Greg Evigan to go undercover, posing as a stripper to catch a serial killer of dancers at a local club. She gets a dancing job from club owner Norman Fell after winning an amateur sriptease contest there with help from an audience stacked with off-duty cops.

Scripters Katt Shea Ruben (former actress who also makes her helming debut here) and Andy Ruben play fair with the audience, offering legitimate clues and red herrings regarding the killers identity. Solution to the whodunit is ingenious; though very difficult to guess even by the alert viewer it is satisfying.

Lenz, firmly established as a sexy screen presence 15 years ago in her debut in Clint Eastwood's "Breezy". Is extremely effective here, faking several stripteases which substitute acting for professional dancing. Director Ruben stylizes the frequent strip sequences, using stylish pastel lighting effects and elaborate, acrobatic choreography by Ted Lin to create more traditional burlesque routines than the strictly sex approach. A cast of maily pro dancers perform well, ditto support roles by Evigan and Fell plus a funny turn by Diana Bellamy as a taciturn lady at police headquarters.

I like this movie. It was my first movie that I ever appeared in. I am the guy playing guitar on a bench and get robbed , right before the body gets set on fire. We shot all of that ,that night. The fire scene as well,,,very cool to watch that unfold.Shot at or about 8pm in the park downtown L.A. and was a little bit cold. Greg was less than receptive on the set,,UNLIKE KAY who was very nice and sweet. I also struck up a chat with the script supervisor who was an actress (cant remember her name thou) and she was very nice and good looking. This movie is slow at times but still has depth and a Good plot line. Peace B