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Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth By: June Michele Pulliam and Anthony J. Fonseca, Editors
ZOMBIE STRIPPERS!
Laura Helen Marks Zombie Strippers! is a 2008 horror-comedy movie written and directed by Jay Lee, starring porn
superstar Jenna Jameson and Nightmare on Elms Street film film series star Robert Englund. Lee had previously written and directed the even lower budget demon-zombie film The Slaughter (2006). (2006). Zombie Strippers! is set in a near future in which George W. Bush has been elected for a fourth
term. The film centers around RhinoÕs, an underground strip club in a small Nebraska town. The plot device is similar to that of The Return of the Living Dead (1985) (1985) in that a chemical virus developed by the government to reanimate slain soldiers in order to create a super military force has been accidentally released, spreading the virus to the general population. The paramilitary paramilitary Z Squad is sent to kill the zombies. When one member of the squad is bitten, he seeks refuge in RhinoÕs. After the clubÕs star dancer Kat (Jameson) is bitten, she continues to perform, and her aggressive, bloodthirsty bloodthirsty shows are a huge hit with customers, although their subsequent Champagne Room visits prove fatal to them. KatÕs success prompts her fellow dancers to decide whether to become zombies themselves. The film is most notable for Jameson, a porn industry legend considered an emblem for women who turn porn careers into lucrative, long-term businesses. Zombie Strippers! was JamesonÕs first lead role in a nonpornographic film. The film sexualizes the zombie in more overt ways than traditionally traditionally seen on film, in turn subverting the notion of the objectified and victimized female stripper: it is
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Kat (Jenna Jameson) beguiles the clientele of RhinoÕs, who do not suspect that the exotic dancer that they find so appealing is a bloodthirsty zombie who will soon feast on their flesh. (Sony Pictures Entertainment) the violent and sadistic strippers who prove to be a big hit with the masochistic male customers. In this way, sexually aggressive women are depicted as more appealing than the traditionally appeasing exotic dancer. The humor of the film relies in part on the dramatic irony generated by the customersÕ expressing glee in retiring to the private rooms with the strippers, where they will inevitably be eaten. Consequently, the male customers are the butt of the joke, while the female zombie strippers are the subjects, in spite of the filmÕs prolonged nude dance sequences. LeeÕs prior film, The Slaughter, also demonstrates an interest in feminine monsters, focusing on the resurrection of a zombie-related female demon. Zombie Strippers! had a limited theatrical release in the United States in its R-rated form; the subsequent unrated DVD release includes some scenes of gore and nudity that had been cut for the theatrical release. The film was generally received poorly by the mainstream press, who criticized the low production values, bad acting, and one-joke premise. Horror blogs and less mainstream press, however, mostly welcomed the film as a fun, albeit disposable and predictable offering. The film cost $1 million to make in 18 days of shooting. See also Comedy; See also Pornography; See also Return of the Living Dead Series; See also Science Fiction
MLA Marks, Laura Helen. "ZOMBIE STRIPPERS!." Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth. Ed. June Pulliam, Anthony J. Fonseca. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood,
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