Good Vibrations Magazine

The Film: Zombie Strippers
Director/Writer: Jay Lee
Starring: Jenna Jameson, Robert Englund
Website: www.sonypictures.com/movies/zombiestrippers

Have you ever been so excited about something you almost didn’t know where to begin?

I guess I have to start by saying that I am something of a Zombie/Campy Horror film fanatic. From obscure independent gore fests to the classic pantheon of terror elites (i.e. The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, Suspiria) good and bad horror alike has always held a special place in my heart. And unlike any other horror sub-genre (torture flicks like “Hostel” or “Saw” hold little appeal for me), I’ll swoon over anything remotely resembling zombies. Whether you’re talking about the overtly racist, Voodoo-induced zombie flicks of the 1930’s (i.e. King of the Zombies), the Classics (original Dawn of the Dead), or even horror pretending to be about zombies (I’m looking at you 28 Days/Weeks Later, rabies doesn’t equal zombies), I’m something of an undead aficionado. So imagine how my little black heart began to skip a beat when I heard that Jenna Jameson was starring in a non-porn, and it’s all about my very favorite thing.

It’s safe to say that I had some pretty high hopes for this feature. From the trailer alone I knew that this film would have something special that most other zombie flicks fail to incorporate, zombie boobs. Now there are a lot of breasts in zombie films generally, but they usually belong to a living girl in her late teens who has only seconds to live after her bra comes off. This film promised actual stripping zombies, which has just the right amount of how the hell are they going to work this out? to send my brain reeling for weeks before the premiere. So I bought my tickets online as soon as they were available for opening night at only theatre in San Francisco where Zombie Strippers would be playing during its limited theatrical release. I had no idea whether this film would fall into the funny on purpose, or so bad it’s funny category, and at that point I didn’t care. The film clearly had entertainment gold written all over it, but I admit I didn’t have much faith that this cinema gem was going to have anything to offer above the obvious Jenna/Boobies/Blood guilty pleasure equation. It seemed a good foray for Jenna, after all it isn’t inconceivable for a porn star to act like a stripper, and considering the ample amount of T&A in most (if not all) gore films, strippers/sex workers/teenage sluts have always had an important place in the history of horror, but that’s a whole different essay. Basically, the role of a stripper character in a film like this serves the purpose of someone who is embodies both toughness and vulnerability on a physical and emotional level at the same time, they dance hard and live hard—but are always craving acceptance while constantly fighting inner demons on a rollercoaster journey towards discovering their true selves. And just so we are clear I’m talking about the role of a stripper in a horror film, not all real strippers are symbolic of this line of thought, and if it sounds pseudo-cliché it’s because it is.

But other than the glory of zombie boobs I was really excited to see what kind of stamp writer/director Jay Lee would give to his take on the classic zombie flick. These are the basic components that exist in all horror and zombie films that will be the most heavily debated by nerds like me. And while this is all probably part of a much longer dissertation about zombie films in general, here is a short summary of what you need to know: you have your basic, early Romero-style zombie as the standard model– slow moving/awkward motor skills, little to no familial recognition (that ain’t your mom no more sonny boy), unquenchable thirst for brains, not a great learner. Since Romero all other directors (including later Romero) will have their cinematic versions of zombies compared to this original set of traits, which will also include the film’s zombie origins with the most common causes being- alien and/or meteor, secret government program, radiation leak/spill, or lone crazed scientist run amok, although once in a while you’ll still find a witch/warlock/voodoo connection.

Without giving anything away that wasn’t openly addressed in the trailer, the zombie gene (we’ve gone the secret government program route here) reacts differently in men and women. It works on the X chromosome (someone passed 11th grade biology), which means it will be “more pure” in biological women than men. In this case “more pure” equates to turning pretty good strippers into super-powered MEGA strippers who can work that pole with ungodly might which simultaneously terrifies and over joys the male customers (who come back in droves for more zombie boobies, might I add). But the socio-political tone doesn’t stop there, it seems these strippers who lovingly work and live in Sartre, Nebraska (God love a literary pun) happen to be going through their own individual existential crisis, and while I’m sure most strippers don’t read Nietzsche between sets, perhaps they should, look what it did for Jenna Jameson.

But in order to fully appreciate the scope of a film like this, you need a little zombie film refresher course. The zombie film has always been rife with political subplots; after all, what is a zombie? A zombie is us, only not the us we know. They look like someone you love but inside they are empty, void of emotion, and trying to kill you. There is hardly a more terrifying prospect then your child or lover or priest suddenly turning around and trying to rip your head off. This golden nugget of terror has allowed the zombie film genre to tell us something while entertaining our blood lust with lots of red colored corn syrup and fake intestines. With Romero the zombies have symbolized the homeless epidemic, racism, AIDS, the inequality between the haves and have-nots, you get the idea. Most other zombie films follow suit one way or another and usually behind that gory exterior and bevy of beautiful naked girls, the director is trying to teach you something about humanity. In the past few years, a new crop of directors have taken the political zombie and examined its comedic elements, you get films like Shaun Of The Dead and Fido, which are wonderfully funny and act as an excellent satire of mechanized modern living while exploring the same political themes found in earlier zombie flicks, except for one important missing item, the girls. Funny zombie movies tend to take the sex out of the equation, focusing on the blood and guts, witty one-liners, and political subplots that usually boil down to issues of class. While these films are fantastic and I highly recommend them, they are missing the perfect opportunity to make a funny, witty, political zombie thriller that actually deals with sex and gender as its main subplot.

Enter Zombie Strippers. Finally someone decided to use naked girls as more than window dressing in a zombie film and realized that those naked girls are the perfect socio-political exploration of the zombie theme not only in the micro-realm of zombie films, but in the larger scope of women’s roles in the history of horror. While certain horror female stereotypes still apply, i.e.- the slut vs. the virgin, stripper cat fights, etc., we’re also talking about a film where zombie strippers become more popular than living ones, where female sex workers have real power (sexual and otherwise), and where sexuality and gender are not only acknowledged but put in the forefront of a horror film. Catch this fun film on DVD or in a local theatre if you can, and get ready to experience a whole new kind of zombie flick. Can Zombie Strippers really change the world? I’m not sure, but I can tell you it is one hell of a funny, sexy, zombie bloodbath, and there is a scene featuring Jenna Jameson and some billiard balls that just might change your life.