Stripped To Kill — Stripped To Kill(Blu Ray)
From the late 80’s, Stripped To Kill is a mix of erotic thriller and drama with touches of slasher/giallo. The film is largely set in & around a pole dancing club, where dancers are being killed off. It’s down to a blond/ big hair-sprayed cop to go undercover to see if she can solve whose behind the murders. It features a fair bit of topless nudity, a few murders/ gore, and a fair bit of 80’s camp. Here from 88 Films Slasher Classics series is a Blu-ray release of the film. It takes in a new HD print, four commentary tracks- two new, two archive, and a selection of other new/ old extras.
Stripped To Kill- working title Strip Me Deadly- is a US production from the year 1987. It was largely filmed around LA. The film was directed/co-written by female director Katt Shea. And it was produced by Roger Corman.
Between the late 80’s and early 2020’s, Ms Shea had nine features to her name. The included the more horror/dark comedy focused sequel Stripped To Kill 2:Live Girls (1989), exploitation/heartfelt drama crossbreed Streets (1990), and animal adventure/ family drama Rescued by Ruby (2022).
The film focuses on The Rock Bottom Dance Club, which is a neon-edged pole dancing strip joint. It’s run by the cigar-chopping, grey-haired, and hat-wearing Ray( Norman Fell). One night, after work, one of the strippers is sitting on a bridge- she is pushed over by a masked/ darkly dressed figure, then is beaten before being doused with petrol. At the sight of the murder, Detective Cody Sheenan(Kay Lenz) is working undercover as a homeless person- this killing shakes her up, rather, and fairly soon she’s given the case to investigate. Joining her is the spiky-haired, gelled, short mullet, and designer stubble Detective Heineman(Greg Evigan).
As you’d expect with strip joint set film, there are a fair few dance routines- and these take up a fair bit of the film's runtime. These go from fairly run-of-the-mill to relatively creative- such as a biker chick, a cave woman with flames, a spider-dressed woman undressed by many hands, and a masked/ wearing a noose figure. Clearly, more than a few of the actresses are pro dancers/real-life strippers, as there are some very acrobatic moves going down.
The film is really laid out as first and foremost an erotic thriller with drama/ soapy interactions. The slasher/giallo elements are secondary, really- there are only really two murders- there’s the already mentioned pushed off the bridge kill, and a wire noose stringing up. The film plays out with a great OTT, pouring petrol/ flaming, camping it up chase.
Both of our leads are fine enough for this level of late 80’s sleazy shlock- with a decent blend of different musical genres in the strip tease scenes. We get a fair selection of suspects- there’s the already mentioned club owner Ray, there’s a creepy wearing hoody/listening to a Walkman punter, we have a tightly buttoned-up soundman, the dyed blond punk brother of one of the strippers, and a few of the more unpredictable strippers.
The film runs at just under the hour-and-a-half mark, and it remains largely entertaining/engaging. It would have been nice if there had been a few more kills and a few fewer stripteases. It’s, I’m afraid, a real stretch to call it a all out slasher- so if that’s what you're looking for, you’ll feel let down. But if you enjoy erotic thrillers/ dramas with some stalk ‘n’ slasher touches, you’ll enjoy what Stripped To Kill has to offer.
Moving on to this recently released Blu-ray. The HD scan looks good throughout, bringing together well-defined neo-lite shots, clear/ clean nighttime shots, and generally decent daytime shooting.
On the extras side, we get a decent selection of new things. There are two new commentary tracks, one with Film Journalists Dave Wain and Matty Budrewicz, and the other with slasher-loving podcast The Hysteria Continues!, who are joined by author/film historian Amanda Reyes. I played the second of these, and it’s a great/ informative track by the five-piece. We find out that the club's performers were trained dancers, as director Katt Shea wanted to highlight the athleticism and beauty of erotic dancing. Each of the five touches on when/ how they first encountered the film- and their feelings on it. We get bios of each of the dances as they appear, as well as often detail of the songs used on their strip. We find out the film was originally called Deception, and the first cut of the film ran two hours. They talk about the dream quality of some of the film, and how some scene where post dubbed. They touch on a few of the easter egg placed throughout the film, which subtly nod towards the killer's identity. Later on, they touch on the ballyhoo and moments of misdirection in the film. Talk about other similar stripper focused films, and touch on the film's sequel, which apparently started shooting just days after the first film.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have: Directing Stripped to Kill: An interview with director Katt Shea(33.39), and The Contradiction: A video essay by Mike Foster(23.02).
On the archive side, we get two more commentary tracks- one with director Katt Shea and another with director Katt Shea & actress Kay Lenz. There’s "Stripped: Katt Shea" featurette(18.30), "Stripped: Roger Corman" featurette( 7.58)
In finishing, I enjoyed Stripped To Kill well enough for what it is- a late 80’s erotic thriller and drama with light touches of slasher/giallo. This new 88 Films release takes in a nicely clean and crisp scan, with a good selection of extras.