Scribes & Scoundrels: Blackbelt Zombie Platypus!

Zombie Strippers. Directed by Jay Lee. Starring Robert Englund, Jenna Jameson, and Roxy Saint.

Karate Fight. Directed by Rocky Bergen. Starring Girish Manuel, Rocky Bergen, and Valerie Maendel.

Until I saw Zombie Strippers, I thought George Romero was about as subtle as Leatherface chasing after a young hottie with a chainsaw. Boy was I wrong. Jay Lee makes George Romero look like one of the greatest American social commentators since Tom Wolfe.

Enough has been written, by people much smarter than myself, about zombie films as political allegories. I’ll just add that one of the reasons why zombies are effective political allegories is that almost every film director (Joe Dante being the sole exception) has observed the basic rule of “show, don’t tell”. Someone should have told Lee that if soldiers are running around a high tech lab shooting zombies after an experiment goes haywire, the audience really doesn’t have to see a lot of images of Bush and Cheney to get the point.

Speaking of Dubya, stupid people referencing quantum physics or existentialist philosophy is always good for a laugh - which is done once in Zombie Strippers, and very effectively in the first act. However, if it’s deployed as a running gag (as it was done on multiple occasions during the second and third acts), I think it betrays a lack of self-confidence on the part of the director. Say it loud, and say it proud: I’m here to provide cheap thrills and titillation. Anything else is just a bonus.

Now we get to the fun part: the sex and violence. Just how good was the violence? On a technical level, I didn’t understand why Lee included CGI head explosions. Even if the cost of digital effects is getting cheaper, I think squibs still get the best results for productions with a low budget. As for the sex, Jenna Jameson has definitely seen better days, but the other ~~breasts~~ girls provide enough entertainment in between periodic eruptions of violence.

So now that I’ve told my reader(s) what I think makes for a bad small scale production, it’s only fair that I give them a good example of film making done on a shoestring budget. It just so happens that my friend Rocky Bergen has accomplished just such a feat with his second short film, Karate Fight.

If Rocky has never consciously thought about how to write a screenplay, he definitely has a deep, intuitive understanding of how to write a good script. It’s just six minutes, but he hits all the right beats, and as a cinematographer, really knows how to mimic they style of his subject. Enjoy - Rocky Kurosawa strikes again!