Stitches (2012 film)

Stitches

UK and Irish theatrical film poster
Directed by Conor McMahon[1]
Produced by Julianne Forde
Brendan McCarthy
John McDonnell
Ruth Treacy
Written by Conor McMahon
Starring Tommy Knight
Ross Noble
Gemma-Leah Devereux
Shane Murray Corcoran
Thommas Kane Byrne
Eoghan McQuinn
Roisin Barron
Hugh Mulhern
John McDonnell
Tommy Cullen
Lorna Dempsey
with Jemma Curran
and Ryan Burke
Music by Paul McDonnell
Cinematography Patrick Jordan
Edited by Chris Gill
Production
company
Fantastic Films
Tailored Films
Solid Entertainment
Distributed by MPI Media Group
Irish Film Board
Signature Entertainment
Release dates
  • 26 October 2012 (2012-10-26) (UK)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Ireland
Language English
Budget $2 million
Box office $63,995

Stitches is a 2012 British-Irish psychological horror comedy fantasy film directed by Conor McMahon and starring Ross Noble, Tommy Knight and Gemma-Leah Devereux.[2] The plot concerns a birthday clown returning from the dead to exact revenge upon a boy and a group of children who contributed to his death. Stitches was produced by Fantastic Films and Tailored Films in 2012 and marks the movie debut of Tommy Knight and stand-up comedian Ross Noble.[3][4] McMahon began working on Stitches after receiving a €600,000 grant from the Irish Film Board, also utilizing funding from MEDIA Europe.[5] Filming for the movie took place in Ireland.[6] Stitches premiered in Dublin, Ireland in September 2012.[7]

Plot

Richard Grindle (Ross Noble), a clown with the stage name "Stitches", makes out with a woman in his van. During sex, the woman notices an egg encased in a glass tube with a face painted on it. Stitches explains that "they" made him do it when he signed up. Stitches arrives late at Tommy's (Ryan Burke) eleventh birthday party. He attempts to entertain the children, but they instead ridicule him. Tommy's best friend Vinnie (Gerald Ahern) ties Stitches' shoelaces together, causing him to trip and land on a kitchen knife. Stitches stands up and attempts to attack the children, but instead he slips on his own blood and the knife flies above him. Stitches falls onto the floor as the knife falls onto his eye, killing him. Tommy visits Stitches' grave and finds a group of clowns performing a ritual. The group's leader, The Motley, threatens Tommy.

Six years later, Tommy (Tommy Knight) is preparing for his seventeenth birthday. He is still haunted by the memory of his past birthday, and begins to have frightening hallucinations, such as a teacher turning into a clown and ripping off Vinnie's testicles before tying them to a party balloon. Hesitating at the idea of throwing a large party, he considers instead inviting only a few friends. Ultimately, he settles on a large gathering, and Vinnie secretly distributes many more invitations over the internet. Tommy, Vinnie, Richie (Eoghan McQuinn) and Bulger (Thommas Kane Byrne), all of whom had been present when Stitches died, prepare the house. As the guests, including Tommy's childhood crush Kate (Gemma-Leah Devereux), arrive, Stitches comes back to life and leaves his grave.

Tommy, startled by Paul dressed as a clown as a joke, injures his head. Bulger takes Tommy to find a first-aid kit, and Tommy retreats to his treehouse with Kate. There, Tommy discusses his memories of the ritual he encountered as a child. Meanwhile, Paul is attacked by Stitches, who rips off his ear and one of his arms and pulls a live rabbit out of his throat before kicking his head off. The clown then finds Bulger, opens up his skull with a can opener, and removes his brain with an ice cream scooper. After serving up three perfectly round scoops of brain in a glass bowl, Stitches adds blood as a topping to complete his grisly ice cream sundae. Sarah, (Roisin Barron) Paul's girlfriend, enters the attic to look for him. There, she is attacked by Stitches, and manages to fight back. As she escapes, Stitches drives an umbrella through her skull, killing her. Through his telescope, Tommy sees Stitches in the house, and goes to warn Vinnie of his presence, but is at first unsuccessful, due to Vinnie's desire to have sex with a formerly overweight classmate. Tom asks Kate to leave, but her boyfriend Dan (Tommy Cullen) stops her.

Outside, Stitches attacks Richie. Richie attempts to flee but trips and falls. Stitches rips out his intestines and fashions them into a balloon animal before stabbing him with a bike pump and inflating him. Stitches manages to pump enough air into Richie to cause his head to explode. Vinnie, on discovering Tommy to be telling the truth, attempts to leave, but Stitches attacks them. Tommy stabs him, Vinnie covers him with a blanket, and they escape. Tommy and Vinnie rescue Kate, but Stitches knocks her unconscious as they attempt to escape. Tom tries to resuscitate her, and Vinnie leaves them behind, and Stitches attempts to drown Tommy in a sink that Vinnie had previously vomited in. Kate awakens and throws a knife at Stitches, while Tommy deduces a manner in which to defeat the clown; to kill him, they must destroy the egg he kept in his van. Tommy and Kate, pursued by Stitches, make their way to the den in the graveyard. There, Tommy searches for Stitches' egg among a collection of them. Stitches arrives, and while deciding which of the two to kill, Vinnie ties his shoelaces together again. He trips, and drops his egg. Tommy forces Stitches to smash the egg, and Stitches explodes in a mixture of magic trick supplies and yolk.

Six months later, Tommy has moved to a new house, and he and Kate are in his treehouse. Kate gives Tommy a new telescope, and his old one is positioned so as to focus on the den in the graveyard. There, The Motley is attempting to piece Stitches' broken egg back together while receiving a blow job. The egg is now fully restored indicating that Stitches will return. After the film cuts to black, Stitches' catchphrase, "Everybody happy?", is heard.

Cast

Production

Development

McMahon began working on Stitches after receiving a €600,000 grant from the Irish Film Board, also utilizing funding from MEDIA Europe.[8]

Filming

Filming for the movie took place in Ireland.[9]

Premiere

Stitches premiered in Dublin, Ireland in September 2012.[10]

Reception

Critical reception

Critical reception for Stitches has been mixed to positive,[11] with entertainment.ie giving it three stars and commenting on the influence of "80s slasher flicks" on the movie.[12] Of the film, many critics praised Stitches for its inventiveness and Nobles' performance, with Bloody Disgusting writing that the movie was "destined to become a cult classic" and carried "heavy replay value".[13][14] Dread Central in particular praised the movie's kill scenes, calling them "brilliant" and remarking that they were done "with such a rigorous sense of care and detail".[15] Criticisms for the movie revolved around the film being "an incredibly low budget production" and the plot being "nowhere near as fun as it sounds on paper".[13][14] The Screen Daily commented that the "horror stuff is obvious, but staged with showstopping flair and buckets of blood".[16] McMahon began working on Stitches after receiving a €600,000 grant from the Irish Film Board, also utilizing funding from MEDIA Europe.[17] Filming for the movie took place in Ireland.[18] Stitches premiered in Dublin, Ireland in September 2012.[19]

Awards

List of awards and nominations
Award Category Nominee Result
Fright-Fest 2012 and Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2012 Best Death and Midnight X-Treme Conor McMahon (Director) Fantastic Films (production company) Tailored Films (production company) - Conor McMahon Won

Soundtrack

Song for the film

Music

International releases

References

  1. ↑ "Conor McMahon Casts British Comedian Ross Noble in 'Stitches'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  2. ↑ Oden, Ike. "STITCHES DOES KILLER CLOWNS THE UK WAY". JoBlo. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Kemp, Stuart. "British Stand-Up Ross Noble's Movie Acting Debut 'Stitches' Gets U.K., Ireland Distribution". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Clarke, Donald. "Killer punchlines". Irish Times. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Conor McMahon’s ‘Stitches’ To Receive Irish and UK Cinema Release". IFTN. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  6. ↑ McNary, Dave. "Fantastic, MPI in 'Stitches' deal". Variety. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Conor McMahon’s ‘Stitches’ To Receive Dublin Premiere". IFTN. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  8. ↑ "Conor McMahon’s ‘Stitches’ To Receive Irish and UK Cinema Release". IFTN. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  9. ↑ McNary, Dave. "Fantastic, MPI in 'Stitches' deal". Variety. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Conor McMahon’s ‘Stitches’ To Receive Dublin Premiere". IFTN. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Movie Review: STITCHES". Starburst Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Review: Stitches". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  13. 1 2 "[BD Review: Clown Slasher ‘Stitches’ Destined To Become A Cult Classic!!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  14. 1 2 "Sitges 2012 Dispatch: MANIAC Crowds, STITCHES and SLICE AND DICE: THE SLASHER FILM FOREVER". Twitch Film. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  15. ↑ "Review: Stitches (2012)". Dread Central. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  16. ↑ Newman, Kim. "Stitches". Screen Daily. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Conor McMahon’s ‘Stitches’ To Receive Irish and UK Cinema Release". IFTN. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  18. ↑ McNary, Dave. "Fantastic, MPI in 'Stitches' deal". Variety. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  19. ↑ "Conor McMahon’s ‘Stitches’ To Receive Dublin Premiere". IFTN. Retrieved 19 October 2012.

External links

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