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One would expect a film called Zombie Women of Satan to be a little... silly. And probably vulgar, and violent, with lots of buxom women running around with few or no clothes. And the film has all of these elements. Unfortunately, its jokes fail at least as much as they succeed, and the self indulgent script can't quite bring all of the elements together to make what could have been an exploitive zombie masterpiece. The film centers around a travelling burlesque troupe, consisting of their leader Johnny Hellfire (Seymour Mace, also a co-writer), Pervo the Clown (Warren Speed, also co-director), Harmony (Kate Soulsby), Zeus the midget (Peter Bonner), Damage the strongman (Joe Nicholson) and their guest artist Skye Brannigan (Victoria Hopkins), lead singer for some sort of goth girl's group. The group is incredibly excited to snag an interview on the internet TV show of one Tycho Zander (Christian Steel). Unfortunately, Tycho also runs a sex cult that entices young women to join and then drugs them into submission. Oh, and his father Henry (Bill Fellows) does experiments on the girls from time to time that turn them into zombies. Guess what happens. If you guessed that somehow all of the scantily clad women in Tycho's cult would be accidentally infected with the zombie virus at the same time that our heroes arrive for their interview, you were right! Interrupted mid-interview, Tycho locks the troupe in the studio and goes with his sisters Red and Blue (Marysia Kay and Gillian Settle) to try to quell the zombie uprising, but not before Skye catches a glimpse of her long lost sister Rachel (Victoria Broom), a member of Tycho's cult who has not yet succumbed to zombification. The troupe soon breaks out of the studio, and strives to find a way to escape, while Skye sets out to find her sister. What follows is a lengthy succession of bared breasts, most likely splattered with blood, ravening zombie nymphettes, gory violence, and crude, often scatological, humor. If that's your thing, then you'll probably enjoy the film immensely. Be warned, however, that the humor, even judged by the low standards of such things, often fails to elicit much more than a smile. In particular, one extended sequence in which Zeus the midget defecates on a tree is particularly painful. That's not to say there aren't moments of genuine humor, such as when Tycho asks Zeus to play a tiny guitar. But the truly funny moments are spread too thin, and the unfunny or too drawn out gags are everywhere. Of course, it's difficult to mess up when showing a barely dressed, attractive woman covered in blood, so that portion goes fairly well. But is that enough to carry a film? Zombie Women of Satan is proof that it is not. The film has its good points: the occasional humor, the more than occasional attractive woman, decent performances, impressive blood and gore effects for its obviously small budget. But one gets the impression that the whole thing is just thrown together for the amusement of its creators, with no concern for whether it would ultimately be watchable or interesting. Everyone looks like they are having a great time, but this enthusiasm does not extend to the viewing experience. And Satan is never actually mentioned in the film, so what's the deal with the title? Zombie Women of Satan provides some limited fun, but ranks as a rental only. The DVD
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