Tuesday, 26 February 2013

Stripperland, Back Review


Stripperland, Back Review

Year: 2011
Stars: Benjamin Sheppard, Jamison Challeen, Maren McGuire
Directed: Sean Skelding
Running Time: 103mins



That’s right! A parody of a parody of zombie apocalypse films! Didn’t think it was possible? Well neither did I but here it is anyway. Directed by Sean Skelding (which might I add is usually a set dresser on most films but has directed another film called I am virgin) and made for a $500,000 budget.
Benjamin Sheppard is Idaho (A parody of Columbus) he also doesn’t have any other major acting roles under his belt.
Jamison Challeen is Frisco (yes you guessed it Tallahassee) he was in the directors other film I am virgin and a few other titles.
Maren McGuire is Virginia (as the Wichita parody) she too was in I am Virgin and quite a bit more film wise and series wise.
These films are all part of some films that parody comedy films, and are one of them jumping on the success bandwagon of other movies. These are usually hit and miss, unfortunately mostly miss a lot of the time. This being a zombie film and a b-movie I was willing to give it a go.

From the beginning this movie is like the film it rips off word for word almost, Idaho even says oh like that movie when they name each other places there from and it even has the rules.
This doesn’t make it a bad thing mind, the zombie disease in this only effects women and it turns them into stripper/zombie hybrids and us men thinking mostly with our penises fall prey to them rather quickly.
A flashback while their talking shows Idaho in his room debunking the outbreak to a friend, when he gets disturbed mid self-pleasuring by his step mum he opens the door to see she’s a Strombie? Zomper?  Bugger it zombie will do.
He evades her with ease to find his dad hurt and dying, tries to reconcile in a trying to be comedic way but fails. His step mum breaks free and his dying dad saves him giving him time to run off with a case that he’s not to use unless everything goes to shit, so that’s Idaho’s story.
Anyways true to the original film Frisco stays stoically quite apart from about the case which Idaho knows nothing about. On the road driving some almost funny jokes happen one fart joke some quite moments and Idaho trying to make friends.
They come across double D a world famous rapper I was mildly entertained by it being Daniel Baldwin, where are those Baldwin’s lately. He rapping (as he’s a rapper) making the zombies dance for him.
Virginia isn’t anything Wichita when they meet she is totally unimpressed by the rules and even calls Idaho a rule 55, you’ll get it if you watch it. Though her sister (West) does seem to warm to him and even tries to support him at points.

They end up in a shopping complex where their invited to stay by the pimp daddy, who comes from a long line of pimps this was funny. Only oops they’ve left the back door open and hordes of strippers come pouring in. They invite him to go with them but he declines because he’s a bad man and would have the women turfed out in a day. As their leaving he’s dragged into a door way by multiple zombies.
He’s eaten.
Over run with zombies they flee. In a one on 10 act, Virginia takes on a load of zombies with two machete’s so as not to attract more with gunfire. The strippers/zombies in this film seem to drop easy no need for head shots just a mortal wound in sufficient.
Later on in a casino the girls get the boys to strip while playing poker, unknown to them their being watched by an apparent nutcase on the security cameras.
The crazy doc captures them and intends to turn the women into love slaves/housewives with a different strain of the virus he’s been working on, it backfires they escape and when he releases his trapped stripper to get the girls they turn on him instead. There we have yet another place they run from and head back out.
In a scene parodying the Bill Murray incident they go to some guys house whose famous for selling some grills and being in loads of apparently famous films that we’ve never of but they sound like parodies if other things. Thinking it’s a stripper from scenes of fish netted legs we are treated to him in women’s underwear asking them why they’re in his house.
We find out he’s dressed like that so it fool the strippers when he ventures out, he gets wasted when Frisco running to them laughing mistakes him for a zombie. Again they move on this time they get cornered in a gas station while in the shop quick thinking from earlier Idaho turns on music and the strippers start to dance to it.
This isn’t enough though and Idaho’s rapping is something to be desired, then the girls decide to dance their way through the stripper to gas up the truck.

At this point there’s very little more to tell you as there’s not much film left and you know I at THN never spoil endings for you (well very rarely) so some more factual stuff. The effects are for the budget reasonable the make up about as best you could get for it, the dodgy CGI is baaaad when the camera moves so does it, it’s quite amusing and the blood fountains are bad also buuuut for the cash they had it is the best and as always I’ve seen worse on much higher budget films.
Acting all round is medium no real bad ones and I suppose with a better script these people could pull of some bigger jobs easy. It wasn’t great and a lot of the comedy that zombieland had and worked well just doesn’t translate over that well unfortunately. I being a metal/rock fan appreciated the sound track in here a lot as there was a lot of it; this is something that may put others off of this film though.
Also it may not appeal to women as well there scantily clad strippers walking about a lot, but fear not they don’t get naked much, in fact hardly ever and a large selection of the women are used over and over with different wigs etc.
You know I really may change my rating to allow for at least one half mark a two and half in the near future as 2 is too low for this and 3 to high. So at the moment this gets a solid 2.



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