Chopper Chicks In Zombie Town (1989)
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From merely looking at the title, it should be easy to see that this movie isn’t likely to win any Oscars. Indeed, we’re deep into b-movie territory here, with a release from infamous low-budget film studio Troma. Like many b-movies it tries to make up for it’s lack of plot, acting or budget with a script that makes fun of itself. Unlike many other b-movies it succeeds in this attempt reasonably well.
The plot concerns a female biker gang who ride into a remote American town and start causing havoc among the conservative locals. After they’ve made themselves unwelcome they’re on the verge of leaving when they find that the town is about to come under threat from a horde of shambling zombies. After being used as slave labour in a nearby abandoned radioactive mine, the zombies escape and spend most of the movie slowly walking towards the town. Throw in a busload of blind orphans whose driver keeps a machine-gun for “sentimental reasons”, a diminutive undertaker and his crazy boss and what’s left is a movie that makes even most other b-movies look sane.
Fortunately it’s not afraid to make jokes about the sheer ridiculousness of it all, and although there aren’t that many real jokes, b-movie fans should be able to find a fair amount to laugh at here. One of the most bizarre features is the comedy music that accompanies the zombies on their long trek from the mine, which would sound awful in any other context but strangely fits here. More silly situations, such as the townsfolk’s refusing to fight their dead relatives as they’re “family”, and one of the bikers fighting off zombies with a staple gun for no good reason, ensure that as long as you don’t try to take this seriously it’s easy to be reasonably entertained.
Since this is a zero-budget b-movie there’s not much hope of any special effects or decent acting, although this does feature an early appearance by Billy-Bob Thornton as the husband of one of the bikers. Despite his later successful movie career, he’s unfortunately just as amateurish as the rest of the cast. Director and writer Dan Hoskins also fails to bring any directing talent on this, his only film.
In summary, this is a silly b-movie that manages to at least be amusing, even if the production standards are low even by b-movie standards. Many terrible films can be amusing, but at least here the humour is deliberate.
Rating : 5½ / 10
All content ©2003 William Marnoch.
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