After Midnight (4 Stars)

The film poster, also used as the DVD and Blu-ray cover, is sexy. I like it, even though it has little to do with the film itself. I remember when Fred Olen Ray presented a few alternative designs in Facebook a few years ago and asked his fans which one they preferred. He made the right choice. Or should I say that  we  made the right choice?

Constance works as a newsreader for a Los Angeles television station. She has two sisters, Annie and Julie. Annie works as a stripper in a seedy little bar called the Candy Cat. Julie has been catatonic in hospital for months, ever since she was involved in a car accident caused by Annie when she was drinking.

Constance almost breaks down when she has to read a news report about her sister Annie being murdered outside the strip club. She asks for a few days off work to recover. In truth she wants to investigate the murder. She goes undercover as a stripper at the club. When she starts she says that she doesn't think she can do it, but she's a natural. She enjoys dancing, and it shows.

I've never visited a strip club, and the Candy Cat is no recommendation. The club's owner Rikki, played by Tawny Kitaen, wants it to be a family, but the atmosphere between the dancers is toxic. Only Zoey, played by Christine Nguyen, accepts the new girl. The barman is a sexual predator who considers all the girls to be his personal property. The customers all seem creepy in one way or another. It's easy for me to judge. I'd probably look just as creepy sitting in a club like this.

Maybe there would be two good reasons for me to visit the Candy Cat. One look at Tawny Kitaen would win me over. Was she really 53 when she appeared in "After Midnight"? Unbelievable! Her first film was the title role in "The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak", made in 1984, but she's best known for playing Hercules' wife Deianeira in the early episodes of the 1990's Hercules TV series.

The other reason is Christine Nguyen as Zoey. She radiates elegance in every scene where she appears, whether she's clothed or not.

Since the film takes place in a strip club, there's a lot of opportunity for gratuitous nudity, not just from Christine Nguyen. The film has been criticised by other reviewers for not having enough of a plot and being padded by strip tease dances. I can see what they mean. I can't remember how many dances there were – I'll have to count them the next time I watch the film – but I don't have any problems with this so-called padding. It's an erotic thriller, so we can expect some sexuality. There are no actual sex scenes, so the sexuality is all provided by the nude dancing. If anything, I would have liked the film to have been padded even more.

The film is well made, with decent acting, and it follows all the rules of the erotic thriller genre. There has to be a twist at the end, and when it comes it will shock you. If you're like me and don't visit strip clubs, watching "After Midmight" is a good alternative.