Stripped To Kill (NC) [Four Films By Katt Shea]
Sun 19 Oct 2025
2pm
€7.50
86 mins - United States 1987 Director: Katt Shea Starring: Kay Lenz, Greg Evigan and Norman Fell Exotic dancers of the Rock Bottom Club are being brutally murdered and Detective Cody Sheehan (Kay Lenz) is on the case. She infiltrates the club’s sorority of dancers by going undercover as a performer herself and, to her surprise, Sheehan discovers that stripping holds a powerful allure for her. But with a killer on the loose time is running out and the police officer, along with her wisecracking partner (Greg Evigan), needs to solve the case.
Katt Shea made her directorial debut with STRIPPED TO KILL. Within the parameters of the B-movie formula (nudity and violence are a must) she crafted a witty, slick and stylish thriller with not only a fine central performance from Lenz (who has great chemistry with co-star Evigan) but also from the supporting cast, many of them genuine exotic dancers who never acted before. While the identity of the killer may raise some eyebrows with a contemporary audience, STRIPPED TO KILL is a prime example of the American B-movie of
the late eighties made with a thoughtful female cinematic sensibility.“This slick thriller is cleverly written and directed.” National Film Theatre SHOOTING AT THE SPEED OF THOUGHT - FOUR FILMS BY KATT SHEA In Peter Traver's Rolling Stone review of the Katt Shea film POISON IVY, he writes: “why settle for the usual walk around the exploitation block when Shea offers a wild ride with the top down into uncharted territory?”. This comment could easily be applied to all of the genre movies that the filmmaker helmed during the 80s and 90s. A pioneering female director who started out working on low budget productions for the king of the B's Roger Corman, Katt Shea made films in this male-dominated world with taut screenplays (which she often co-wrote), snappy dialogue, innovative visuals, thoughtful characterisations and great performances. With the Museum of Modern Art and the British Film Institute hosting retrospectives of her work, Shea has been recognised as a notable filmmaker and Triskel Arts Centre is delighted to present a selection of her films, some of them never before seen on a cinema screen in Ireland. Katt Shea kindly took some time to talk to Triskel's Head of Cinema Chris O'Neill about her career and work. This interview will be appearing online soon (watch this space).
[F-Rated]
