Director: Stacy Layne Wilson
Year: 2017
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: Cabaret of the Dead
Genre: Zombie; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Working in a high-class cabaret act, a group of women are determined to play true to the old-school ideals of the profession for their customers, and as they go about their nightly routine as normal they are suddenly attacked by a swarm of zombies forcing them to try to survive the creatures.
Review:
Overall, this was a fairly fun throwback effort. One of the better features here is the gleefully old-school setup and approach that allows this to wallow in the kind of charmingly cheesy atmosphere present. The whole concept of the Cabaret showcase being playfully erotic without being outright sleazy means that it manages to go through the numerous instances of getting the women into various stages of skimpy clothing or undergoing ornate costume changes while keeping a classy and respectful vibe throughout is a great touch. Despite getting the girls backstage changing into their outfits or out on stage performing routines for their fans, the idea that it never crosses the boundary into more overt territory makes this one incredibly fun with the antics of the dancers in this environment start off incredibly well.
While this works nicely, the genre aspects here are a bit hit-or-miss. The main scenes of them invading the cabaret club and attacking the girls while trying to perform their routines and sexual indulgences on customers makes for a strong enough idea that it does have some fun moments of the group getting swarmed and ambushed. Given that there’s some decent enough gore and action here to make it somewhat entertaining, this is also done quite late into the film with only brief bits of the creatures advancing to help give it the tone and appearance of a genre effort. As this also sets up the somewhat bizarre finale where far too many victims are left alive, the whole thing is dismissed with an air of indifference that makes everything feel less imposing than it should’ve been, and the outcome of the survivors is dependent on a nonsensical twist, it does have some minor issues.
Overview: ***.5/5
An overall intriguing if somewhat problematic low-budget zombie effort, this one manages to come off better than it should, even with some issues holding it back. Those who enjoy this kind of genre fare, are unbothered by these factors, or fans of the creative crew will have the most to like here while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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