Chopper Chicks in Zombietown (Reviewed by Lisa Marie Bowman)

An all-women motorcycle gang called the Cycle Sluts roars through the desert.  Why are they called the Cycle Sluts?  As their leader puts it, they know what people are going to call them so they’re reclaiming the term for themselves.  Nobody tells the Cycle Sluts what to do.  They’re rebels and they’re singers, making music and fighting the patriarchy.

When the Cycle Sluts drive into the small desert town of Zariah, the residents are not happy to see them.  Zariah is a peaceful and boring town and the citizens would like to keep it that way.  But the town becomes a lot less peaceful when the local mortician starts to bring the dead back to life.  Soon, zombies are wandering through the desert on their way back to their former home and only the Cycle Sluts and a bus full of stranded blind kids can save the town!

That slight plot description probably tells you all you really need to know to get a feel for what type of film 1989’s Chopper Chicks in Zombietown is.  It was released by Troma, which means that the humor is crude, the zombie attacks are bloody, and the film’s aesthetic is undeniably cheap.  That said, the film itself is enjoyable when taken on its own dumb terms.  The action moves quickly, the members of the cast perform their silly roles with an admirable amount of dedication, and the whole thing ends with a message of peace and equality.  The townspeople learn how to be tolerant and the Cycle Sluts learn how to trust other people.  It’s about as dumb as a movie about about bikers fighting zombies can be but it’s a surprisingly fun movie.  The Cycle Sluts do a good job and so does the film.

Speaking of doing a good job, keep an eye out for Billy Bob Thornton, making an early appearance as the unfortunate boyfriend of one of the residents of Zariah.  Billy Bob seems to be having fun with this early job and his appearance here serves as a reminder that everyone started somewhere.