Members Club

If there’s something that you’re good at – good enough that you’ve been able to make your living that way – it’s tough to be expected to give it up just because you’re getting older. Though they attract ridicule from some quarters, an increasing number of bands have refused to give in to that way of thinking, and have kept on going into their seventies and beyond. That’s a little more difficult to get away with, though, if what you do is strip.

Once successful male stripper troupe Wet Dreams are reaching the end of the road. When their manager, Deano (Liam Noble) decides that it’s time to call it quits, front man Alan (Dean Kilbey) steps up to try and keep things going, but to make it work he will have to make some serious money in very little time. The situation starts looking up when he’s unexpectedly contacted about a very lucrative one night only event in rural Essex. It might sound too good to be true, but he’s not in a position to be picky.

When they get there, the troupe members wonder a little about the obscurity of the location. They wonder about the surly one-eyed former amateur darts champion (Steve Oram) on the door. Inside, however, there’s a free buffet, which is the kind of treat they haven’t seen in a while, so they decide to try and go with the flow, even when given unusual costumes to wear. To be fair, whilst it might be sensible to be cautious, they couldn’t reasonably anticipate that they are being prepared for sacrifice in an effort to raise a 16th Century witch from the dead.

This is the kind of film that could easily be a disaster, but despite obvious budgetary limitations it acquits itself well. Innuendo is kept to a minimum and instead comedy is found in juxtaposing the extremes of the situation with downbeat wit. It’s also strongly character-driven. Beyond the glamour and ridiculousness of their craft, the men are just ordinary blokes trying to make a living. At the same time as trying to save his career, Alan is beginning to recognise that he devoted too much time to it in the past, at the expense of his relationship with his daughter. Meanwhile, Deano finds that breaking away isn’t as easy as he thought. These are people who care about each other, and that makes it easier for the audience to care too.

Within this space, the performances are carefully balanced. There is a stand-out turn from Juliet Cowan as an attentive venue manager oblivious to the danger of what’s happening around her, and it’s a shame that she doesn’t get more screen time. Then there’s Agnes, the witch, who is wrapped up in layer upon layer of latex, an Evil Dead-style monster in a wholly inappropriate context. Wisely, director Marc Coleman keeps her screen time to a minimum, giving us enough to keep things scary and grotesque without letting us become too familiar.

Needless to say, there is a fair bit of gore on display, and some viewers at the Frightfest screening will have been guarding their crotches in nervous empathy, but the horror and comedy elements are effectively blended, with few wrong notes. Members Club may not be what every viewer fancies, but it’s an amiable little film with a mischievous sense of fun.