The film opens in 1984, and a club explodes to the sound of "Hungry Like The Wolf" (which by the way is not the original Duran Duran version, though it sounds mighty close). The song continues to play over the opening credits, which have red and black comic book-type images. The film has a comic book feel throughout, with lots of very brief scenes, some animated stills, and even the word "Meanwhile..." appearing on the screen once. There is also a lot of split screen action, which can be annoying and often has the effect of distancing the audience from the action rather than pulling folks in. The bulk of the film takes place in 2011, where Jeanette, the owner of the old club, now has a strip club. By the way, she is played by Sarah Douglas, whom you might remember as the sexy villain Ursa from Superman II.
We're introduced to all of the strippers and then all of the werewolves very quickly, with their names appearing on the screen. I could do without that nonsense. It seems weak to me, like lazy writing, and quite frankly most of their names are forgotten immediately after they're presented. But anyway, one of the strippers is giving a private dance and the customer suddenly becomes excited and quite hairy. Frightened, the stripper, named Justice, stabs him in the eye with a silver pen. (She's in a school girl outfit, so the presence of a pen can be explained.)
Meanwhile some poor sap named Richard is being tortured by two men, one of whom is played by the wonderful Steven Berkoff (by the way, for Shakespeare fans, his book I Am Hamlet is really interesting). He's actually quite funny in this scene. Werewolves come in and kill the two men doing the torturing. Richard, delirious, thinks that the werewolves are hero werewolves and have come to save him. But no, they're just regular werewolves, and kill Richard too. It's actually a really good moment. Soon the werewolves realize that Mickey is missing (he's the one who was stabbed in the eye), and vow to find whoever has taken him and kill them. One of the werewolves is a bit of a retarded wanker. A couple are punks.
Well, Justice is dating a guy named Scott. She hasn't been completely honest with him, letting him think she works in a pet hospital. But guess what - he hasn't been all that forthcoming with her either, letting her believe he's not a werewolf. During a bit of hanky panky Justice bites Scott, hard enough to draw blood. Will that be enough to turn her into a werewolf?
There's something about strippers with British accents: they're much sexier than, say, strippers from Alabama. Though the stripper dressed as an angel gets seriously annoying. After seeing the corpse with the pen in his eye, she is scared, and she plays the frightened note way too long. Basically, that's all she does.
There are some truly funny bits in this film. For example, the werewolves put a paper bag over the wanking werewolf so that he won't scare people. Also, one of the strippers is being chased by the werewolves, and she just manages to get into the home of another stripper, and starts to tell her how they're trying to kill her, but then notices her outfit and says, "Oh, you look nice." I want more moments like that from this film.
The cuts are all a bit quick. I'd like it if scenes were allowed to play out more. The pacing is off, mostly because of the way it's cut, but also because of some extraneous scenes. It doesn't build momentum. For example, halfway through, there is a montage of Franklin (who works at the strip club) and Dani (a cute stripper) getting ready for a date. And this is while the werewolves are trying to find who killed Mickey, and while Justice is sick and possibly becoming a werewolf, and while Scott is supposed to be killing her. The date just isn't important. And because the film is done like a comic book, it's never truly scary. The humor plays much better than the horror. And that's fine; but because of that, I wanted more humor.
It all leads to a big showdown at the strip club. We have an A-Team type montage of the strippers setting traps and whatnot (the silver spiked heel is funny). But before the fight, the strippers, oddly, dance for the werewolves, who sit down and enjoy the show. When the fight begins, a scorecard appears on the screen (reminding me of the running tally of deaths in Student Bodies - remember that one?).
Horror fans will enjoy Robert Englund's brief appearance, as they previous leader of the werewolf gang. For Boston fans, a minor character wears a Celtic jersey in one scene. And note that there is a brief scene after the credits.
DVD Special Features
There are a few bonus features on the DVD. The first is a behind-the-scenes look, with interviews with most of the cast and several members of the crew. The cast members talk about their roles and what drew them to the project. Robert Englund says, "I am playing an American werewolf in London," which is nice. The DVD also includes the film's trailer, and a commentary track by producers Jonathan Sothcott and Simon Phillips. (Simon Phillips also plays a role in the film.) In the commentary track, they talk a bit about Teen Wolf being their starting point with regards to the makeup, the look of the werewolves. They also talk about asking Sarah Douglas to do her Superman II dialogue on set.
Strippers Vs. Werewolves was directed by Jonathan Glendening - or Jonathan Glendenning. The first spelling is used in the opening credits, and the second spelling in the closing credits. The screenplay is by Phillip Baron and Pat Higgins. The film stars Adele Silva, Martin Compston, Billy Murray, Ali Basian, Barbara Nedeljakova, Sarah Douglas, Simon Phillips and Martin Kemp.
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