Written by Brandy Bunce, MoreHorror.com
As a society we have always had a fascination with clowns, they’re funny, crazy and sometimes just outright creepy and scary. Thanks to the Steven King novel that was made into the 1990 hit film IT, long gone are the years where we could attend a child’s birthday party without wondering if the source of entertainment has a body count in their basement. My first viewing of the film Stitches was during the 2012 Mile High Horror Film Festival, of course going into the theater I was expecting a typical tale where the clown creeps me out and I have to swear off the carnival for a month or so, leaving the theater I had turned into a huge fan of the film.
Stitches is an Irish horror comedy that is brought to us by director Conor McMahon and starring Ross Noble as our pleasantly lewd but loveable clown. Stitches is hired to be the entertainment at a children’s birthday party full of the biggest group of snot nosed, disrespectful, brat children that any Wal-Mart would be proud of. Unfortunately for Stitches, thanks to these little bastards he meets his untimely death but not without scarring one child for life and declaring his revenge from the other side ten years later.
This horror comedy really surprised me on multiple levels, yes I will admit some scenes have their cheesy moments but most films in this genre do. McMahon brings to the table new methods of death, hilarious humor that cannot be ignored, and likeable characters from both sides, the killer and his victims. After the ten years from the first scene has passed, we follow our brat children into their teenage years where each category of teenage angst is represented proudly. The hero, the rebellious love interest, the hilarious delightful gay guy, the wannabe womanizer and the assholes all play their part in making us relate to them from our own horrible high school memories while making John Hughes proud.
This film is not like the American way of trying to mix comedy and horror (i.e. Scary Movie, etc.) McMahon takes it to the next level, this film is funny enough that lovers of comedy will enjoy it but doesn’t disappoint horror fans by lacking or mocking in the slasher/killer parts of the film. There is enough blood, guts and brains from start to finish, that true horror lovers will continue to talk about this film long after viewing it.
One of the biggest characteristics that McMahon treats us to is giving an already played out character more of a back story. Throughout the storyline we are told of a clown secret society that is unknown to the general public, adding even more mystery to what we imagine clowns do in their spare time. By doing this, McMahon gives the clown character a sense of unexpected freshness that is needed and recovers our interest not being so cocky that we know where the story is headed before it reaches that point. Unexpected kills and plot twists alone make this film worth seeing and possibly adding to your horror collection at home. I talked so highly of this film to my now current boyfriend that he viewed it himself and gave it to me on DVD as my first gift of our relationship. Nothing says love more than a revengeful, teenage murdering clown.