Middle-aged stripper group Wet Dreams seem to have come to the end of the road and owner Deano (Liam Noble) decides to retire the group. Alan (Dean Kilbey), one of the group’s members, decides to take control and books the group a gig in rural Essex. Believing they are about to earn a ton of money, the group arrives at the isolated club and realise that they’ve fallen into a trap. Now pawns in a plot to resurrect a murderous 16th Century witch, the men have to fight for their lives.
“Members Club” from writer and director Marc Coleman bills itself as ‘The Full Monty’ meets ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’. That sales pitch was definitely enough to pique my interest given that both are classic films in their own right but is it correct? Sadly the answer is not really. While it’s true that the film focuses on an older strip group, like ‘The Full Monty’, and that most of the action takes place within a deserted club, like ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’, that’s where the comparisons stop.
The film establishes the main characters fairly well, setting the scene for the middle-aged down-on-their-luck strippers to get caught up in a world of chaos. Alan has a strained relationship with his daughter Daisy (Barbara Smith) as he makes his money via stripping and online chat forums. He’s perhaps the character we learn the most about and Kilbey gives a solid performance. The rest of the stripper group don’t really get the same treatment but they are believable as friends who are just trying to get by.
Once the action moves to the club, that’s when things start to fall apart and the story starts to get pretty silly. Realising they’re caught up in a supernatural plot, the men have to use their wits to stay alive but the resurrected witch sets her sights on one part of them (we’ll leave you to use your imagination for what that might be). That takes the film in an unnecessarily crass direction and the good faith it builds up is squandered. The ‘twist’ is a cheap way of shocking the audience and it’s a real shame.
The cast on the whole is game and up for the silliness. The lead actors have an amusing buddy chemistry that works and much of the supporting cast is adequate. Peter Andre’s small cameo is disappointingly cringey as he puts on an accent that is less Greek and a lot more Russian sounding (surprising given the singer’s heritage). The witch isn’t particularly scary either, with the character being played for laughs rather than shock or horror.
“Members Club” could have been a real hoot but it plays its hand in a crass way that cheapens rather than strengthens the film. The tropes touched upon here are familiar and the film doesn’t really offer anything particularly new. The plot gets muddled and more ridiculous as it goes on, and by the final scenes you’ll be relieved that the credits are just around the corner. Chalk this one up to a good idea but a missed opportunity.
Cast: Dean Kilbey, Perry Benson, Barbara Smith, Juliet Cowan, Mark Monero, Steve Oram, David Schaal, Alan Ford, Liam Noble, Peter Andre Director: Marc Coleman Writer: Marc Coleman Certificate: TBC Duration: 90 mins Released by: Black Water Pictures Release date: 24th August 2024 (FrightFest)
