Zombie Strippers DVD Review

The Movie

As covered back in former episode of Midnight Muenster, "Zombie Strippers" is a pretty damn good flick all around. From the press release:

Jenna Jameson as a naked zombie. What's not to love?!? But believe it or not, with a name like "Zombie Strippers" and starring one of the biggest mogul's in Porn today, there is a heck of a lot more to this flick that boobs and brains. It's still a major part of it, but it goes way deeper than that!

What makes ZS a standout is director Jay Lee's love of the genre and his attention to detail in the writing. There are so many in jokes in here pertaining to society, the government, big business...the works. There's enough here that you get some mental stimulation as well!

Robert Englund is....well, he's Robert Englund and he's a master at the ham fisted bad guy roles. He's delightfully cheesy here in his slimyness. Everything from NRA jokes and his germophobia make for a great little character that manages to steal scenes. Jenna Jameson does quite well also. Granted, she's playing a stripper and she's been doing that for years; she also brings a bit of believability to the role as well besides just showing off her girls. (Mind you, that's nice too) The rest of the cast does their part to bring together a nice little genre satire as well as a gore fest that is on par with the other movies that take themselves too seriously.

As far as the zombie canon goes, there's really not much to worry about. They don't stick to the strictest rules of the zombie code, but they do quite well. As a matter of fact, the makeup in use in "ZS" is downright impressive. Naked zombies strutting their stuff obviously require full body makeups. The work they did on Jenna, Roxie Roxie was pretty damn great. They slowly break down over the course of the movie and the effects are obvious. Dry and decaying skin, gray palor, the works. The kills are handled well and creatively too; they'll make you cringe for sure if you're a guy and the jaw zombie is by far one of my favorites I've seen as of late.

The DVD

There are a number of extra's packed onto the disk, and they're pretty nice if you're into the behind the scenes view. In addition to the standard 'deleted scenes' features that are common to almost any movie these days, we have commentary with Jay Lee, Jenna Jameson, Robert Englund & Joey Medina, The Champagne Room: Behind the Scenes of Zombie Strippers, and The Dressing Room: How to Glam a Zombie.

These two features were both detailed and entertaining to gain further aspect of what "Zombie Strippers" was all about. In The Champagne Room, we learn the origins of what inspired Jay Lee's plot and how much detail he's put in to the various characters and settings. There is a reason for nearly every character in this movie. We also learn that the movie is loosely based on a play called "The Rhino" and helps to point out some of the more subtle references that were made during the movie. In The Dressing Room, we get detailed looks from the FX team on how they made Jenna Jameson actually look gross (think about it, that would be a pretty tough job) and how exactly they came up with the makeups and effects. If you're a tech geek for horror FX, you'll approve of this whole heartedly.

The Rating

It's easy for me having seen the movie three times now to give "Zombie Strippers" a 9 out of 10. It may seem high on your first glance, but this is a movie that you pick up more and more on repeated viewings. The disk itself gets a 9 out of 10 as well for a pretty transfer, good sound and solid extra features.

If you refrain from seeing this due to the name, you're a goob! It's a great flick that needs attention in this day and age of remakes and PG13 horror.