use IO::Zlib;
tie *FILE, 'IO::Zlib', "xxxxx-access_log.7.gz", "rb";
print <FILE>;
__END__
I wish I were
an oscar
meyer
weiner


yeah!

##</code><code>##

use IO::Zlib;
my $fh = new IO::Zlib;
if ($fh->open("xxxxx-access_log.7.gz", "rb")) {
    print <$fh>;
    $fh->close;
}
__END__