PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Looking for the hottest middle-aged British strippers to arouse and titillate at your next bachelorette party? Hire “Wet Dreams” for your next event, because they know how to get your blood rushing. Covens need not apply. It’s Strippers vs. Witches in Members Club!
Wet Dreams, a middle-aged male stripper group, has decided to disband after a disastrous performance. In an attempt to save the group, Alan (Dean Kilbey: ManFish 2022) takes over and plans to lead them to success. Unfortunately, their next booking may be their last because they’re about to be tangled up in a plot to raise a murderous 16th-century witch from the dead.
Curious? Watch the trailer, and read on for my review!
Members Club is a mix of light drama and comedy set to a backdrop of horror. Think of the plot as a blend of The Full Monty (1997), Magic Mike (2012), and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Director and writer Marc Coleman, makes the smart choice to start the film off strongly by featuring a surprisingly violent opening that sets the tone for the rest of the film. It leads to an interesting watch because, despite a healthy amount of humor, there’s a lingering thought that the characters could also meet a similar grisly fate.
What killer witch movie would be complete without some great gore effects? Alongside the silliness of Members Club, there’s a healthy amount of gore present. From a shockingly gruesome opening kill to various forms of dismemberment, the gore is a fun and bloody reminder to the audience that the dancers are in danger. The only real flaw with the makeup is the bizarre choice to give everyone a chest tattoo. The tattoos look so out of place that the only logical conclusion is that the makeup is unfinished.
The cast meshes well with each other and gives off an honesty to their performances that make it believable that they’ve been stripping together for 30 years. The visible bond of brotherhood amongst the group helps provide emotional weight to the idea that the strip show may not be over. That makes it all the more sad when the body count inevitably rises. The main standout of the feature is not a dancer, but instead an erratic party planner named Joanne played by Juliet Cowan (The Power 2023). About midway through the film, the plot momentarily slows down to a crawl when the characters are split into groups. There just isn’t enough going on to justify the split up. Once the groups find their way back together, the film picks up once again. This is a testament to how strong the chemistry between the cast is.
While the scope of the plot isn’t massive, it’s clear that there were some budget constraints on Members Club. The setting in particular was a letdown. While they are just going to a desolate club, nothing is done set-wise that makes the viewer feel the location is nothing more than a local community center that allows the filmmakers to film for a couple of days. Apart from the lack of mise en scène, there’s also a lack of extras that could help flesh things out. In what should be an arena overflowing with enemies is sadly only occupied by a handful of witches. While this is more of a nitpick, it wouldn’t hurt to have maybe one or two more people thrown into the mix just from a visual storytelling perspective.
Despite some minor nitpicks, Members Club is an entertaining watch that succeeds in its goal of creating a fun horror comedy with heart. Leave your inhibitions at the door, grab your singles, and press play because these dancers know a thing or two about leaving you stiff.
