Zombies vs. Strippers

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Alex Nicolaou
USA 2012

Times are rough at the "Tuff Titty" stripclub. Owner Spider (Circus-Szalewski, KILLER EYE: HALLOWEEN HAUNT) is five grand in the red and thinking of selling. His bouncer Marvin (J. Scott, THE DEAD WANT WOMEN) wants a raise, his DJ (Tanner Horn) is baked, and his strippers - super bad Vanilla (Brittany Gael Vaughn), drunkard Sugar (Eve Mauro, 616: PARANORMAL INCIDENT), cliche bimbo Jasmine (adult star Adriana Sephora), and paying-for-veterinary-school Bambi (Victoria Levine) - are failing against all odds to rouse their meager clientele. The stiffs in the seats, however, are nothing compared to the teeming hordes rioting (and eating flesh) in the Los Angeles streets. Soon the bar is playing host to a group of survivors including a trio of bikers, a sleazy businessman, and the guitarist of "Nancy Regan's Vagina" who spend the usual (for the genre) inordinate amount of time discovering that you've got to aim for the head.

The directorial debut of Alex Nicolaou - son of Full Moon director/editor Ted Nicolaou (SUBSPECIES) - ZOMBIES VS. STRIPPERS is modest entertainment with no real surprises other than a sense of surprise that the viewer does indeed start to care about the cardboard characters by the end. Most of the gore is thankfully cosmetic, but there are a couple dreary CGI bits; however, they can't really be said to cheapen the enterprise anymore than it is already. The nudity actually adds little to the film because - the actresses' looks notwithstanding - the down-and-out "business is dead" atmosphere is successfully realized, right down to their half-hearted spins around the pole to a sparse audience who may or may not be the living dead. The performances of oddly-named lead Circus-Szalewski and Brad Potts (PUPPET MASTER X: AXIS RISING) - as a bible-quoting biker who earned the name "Red Wings" for less than holy reasons - are particularly noteworthy.

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release: 9 July 2012 (USA)

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DVD Review: 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	88 Films Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:11:27 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 4.84 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • The Making of 'Zombies vs Strippers' (16:9; 17:51) • Still Gallery • Trailer (16:9; 1:07) • Full Moon Trailer Park: 'Subspecies', 'Puppet Master', 'The Dead Want Women', 'Reel Evil', 'Tourist • Trap', 'Puppet Master X: Axis of Evil', 'Creepozoids', 'Puppet Master II', 'Castle Freak', and • 'Puppet Master III' DVD Release Date: April 15th, 2013 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

88 Films' single-layer encoding of this dark-looking film isn't very detailed, but that seems to be more a matter of the extreme color corrections. The behind the scenes video featurette shows flatter-looking lighting on-set (not just in the rehearsals but the scenes featuring make-up gags and shot from the angles seen in the film) and the final version seems to have had its contrasts and saturation pumped up to the max (the highlights in capture 4 being particularly telling). The effect isn't ruinous (and in fact possibly helps to obscure the presumably lesser make-up afforded to the non-featured zombie extras) and the look sometimes recalls Full Moon's earlier shot-on-film zombie foray THE DEAD HATE THE LIVING. No complaints about the 2.0 stereo audio, although a 5.1 mix might have made the film's setting more claustrophobic.

Besides the aforementioned behind the scenes segment - in which the actors sometimes expound more about their characters than is evident in the feature - the disc also includes the film's trailer, a still gallery, and the usual "Full Moon Trailer Park" assortment of ten current and upcoming releases. Since this is a recent Full Moon title, the US release is presumably similarly-featured.

- Eric Cotenas

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