2022 SCREAMFEST REVIEW!
Naked Zombie Girl is Back at it again! Barbara (Nicole Cinaglia) is naked and she’s hunting zombies–but this will prove to be her toughest test yet. As she navigates the apocalypse, she will find that just a chainsaw may not be enough to protect herself–but she’s a fighter, and she refuses to give up.
What can really change between the first and second installments of a film series called Naked Zombie Girl, especially when the sequel is called Naked Zombie Girl is Back? Not much. It’s more of the same–blood, gore, unnecessary nudity, and a butt-load of zombies running wild. Nothing changes, and based on what it is that Writer-Director Rickey Bird wants to accomplish with his short films, that’s exactly what he had hoped for. He knows his audience, and he creates exactly what they want to see.
The biggest shift between films is the new casting of Barbara. Cinaglia, aesthetically, fits the bill–but she still has to be able to be able to carry the film. She does just that, and she commands the camera throughout the entirety of Naked Zombie Girl is Back. She presents viewers with a powerful performance, one that is essential to the film. Honestly, the title likely attracts a pretty significant number of viewers–at least viewers looking for a very particular thing. In order for them to overlook the nudity and appreciate the film in other ways, Cinaglia needs to present herself in a particular way. She needs to be powerful, tough, badass–and she is each of those things throughout. She manages to distract from the interestingly classy nudity that exists throughout–and that’s good for her and good for the product.
Much like the first film, each hair on Barbara’s head is meticulously placed–keeping her well-enough covered, and providing some semblance of mystery throughout. Naked Zombie Girl is Back doesn’t seem like the sort of film that would worry about things like being classy–but Bird cares enough to provide his actor some comfortability, and keep things just classy enough to work toward helping the film. The mystery of Cinaglia’s body exists throughout the film, and it remains effective in inviting in viewers and keeping them intrigued throughout. Beyond the mystery it creates, keeping Cinaglia relatively covered up plays another role when looking at Naked Zombie Girl is Back through a meta lense. The elephant in the room is that viewers may believe that Cinaglia is being exploited for her body–and that she’s being used in a way that may not be appropriate. I believe that Bird’s choices throughout constantly remind people that he has her best interest in mind–and he crushes any negative thoughts that those watching may have regarding this aspect of the film.
Much like the first installment of this franchise, Naked Zombie Girl is Back will appeal to a niche group of individuals, but for the ones that it does appeal to, it is powerful and moving. Viewers won’t become emotionally attached to Barbara, and honestly–if she were to die at the end of the film, I”m not sure that it would alter the way viewers feel about the overall production. This is a short journey that viewers are taken on, and the overall narrative isn’t what’s important. It’s the attention to detail in the action sequences, the harrowing darkness, the spectacular practical effects, and the many pieces of the puzzle that make this a spectacular film. Bird replicates his previous film almost in full–and I think I’d be willing to watch it again and again, because he’s on to something.
Written & Directed by Rickey Bird.
Starring Nicole Cinaglia, Robbie Allen, DT Carney, Ivy Polkinghorne, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
