Zombies Vs. Strippers

Zombies Vs. Strippers (2012)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Producer Charles Band and Full Moon are back with this greatly titled but disappointing exploitation film. The story is pretty simple as a group of people take shelter inside a strip joint when the world outside starts to fall apart from zombie attacks. At first the owner thinks this would be a good way to make some quick cash but soon his ladies are having to fight the living dead. ZOMBIES VS. STRIPPERS would be a perfect film for the drive-in era because it gives us a great title but the film itself can't back it up. I think there are quite a few good things going on here including non-stop gore and violence as well as plenty of naked, pretty ladies kicking butt but the biggest flaw is that it's really not all that fun. With a film like this you really shouldn't have to do much but somehow the story just never works and it's just not good enough to where it grabs your attention and holds it. Without the start and end credits this thing only runs 68-minutes and there are many sequences that just get dragged out for no reason. It's clear that the writers weren't sure what to do and especially during the first thirty-minutes as things really do get dragged out. Once the gore and violence does start things pick up but by this time it's a little too late and this stuff still isn't fun enough to save everything. The performances are what you'd expect but I thought for the most part the actors did just fine. The gore effects for the most part look extremely good and there's no question that there's plenty of the red stuff to go around. In the end, ZOMBIES VS. STRIPPERS is worth viewing for "Z" movie fans but there's no question that it should have been much better.

Most bad zombie movies suffer from excess plot but this movie is stripped to its bare essence and benefits considerably. The lead is a fellow named Circus-Szalewski (that's his real name, his character's name is "Spider") who puts on an excellent performance as the down and out owner of a sleazy strip club in the bad part of town. After years of struggle to keep the doors open he decides to sell, but have one last party to say goodbye. Inside the employees peel back their inhibitions and denude their feelings for each other while outside it's the apocalypse. The blaring music attracts patrons dying to get in, some in fact already dead. ZvS is a good bad movie. The acting is all over the place but then some were hired for their assets not their thespian experience. The characters are colorful and varied, especially those remaining robed while the strippers are attractive and contribute more than simple eye candy. The biggest letdown are the zombies. Clearly the extras had no previous experience as walking dead, received no briefing and no directing during. Someone clapped them on the back and said get in there and it shows. The gore is light but B-movie effective with plenty of finger biting and some dismemberment. Most of the budget went into hiring the girls and for this kind of movie that isn't so terrible.

I picked up some DVDS from a local pawn shop this afternoon and got a "Midnight Horror collection" 4 in 1 DVD set of Full Moon films. This is one of them.

A gentleman's club on a bad side of town isn't getting much business. The few customers that they do have are basically lifeless. The club owner "Spider" decides to sell out and shut down the club. Tonight is going to be a party for the staff.

A cash paying customer "Spike" walks through the door with 16k that he stole from another bar. Spider and crew decide to entertain Spike. If they can get his money, they can save the club and their jobs.

After Spike shows up, more people show up and the trouble begins as the strippers must fight off the zombies.

This is pretty much standard Full Moon fare.

Hot chicks and bloody carnage, what more could you want? I hear people all the time say that Zombies Vs. Strippers just ripped off that Robert Englund movie Zombie Strippers, but honestly I thought Zombie Strippers took itself way too serious. Zombie vs. Strippers starts off goofy and doesn't let up. You go into this wanting blood, babes, badassness and that is what you get. This is good old-fashion cheesy zombie horror. Also, I thought that Circus-Szalewski, who plays the owner of the strip club does an amazing job. Do I need to explain the plot? It's Zombie Vs. Strippers, it's simple bloody horror at its finest. Plus, there's plenty of boobs and you can't go wrong with that.

This movie is one of several films to come out at the same time with the theme of Zombies vs. Strippers, it is also the most directly titled. It also possibly had the most simple story and the lowest budget, and in many ways it succeeds because of this.

While the other examples on the list try to do some weird stuff, (face dance anyone?) the simplistic elements of this story make the film able to use what it has to make a pleasant zombie-horror-watching experience.

Do you want to see people being eaten? Do you want to meet a whole host of survivors who get slaughtered mercilessly throughout the movie? Do you want to see a group of attractive women nearly naked the whole time? Well then this is a movie you will enjoy! (If the answer was no to any of those questions then move along since this film has little else.)