Though Stitches (2012) may not be to everyone's taste, director / writer Conor McMahon's new horror comedy is the perfect film debut for edgy comedian Ross Noble making a pleasant surprise in a gross-out schoolboy fashion. The similarities between it and that other anarchic jester jape Funny Man (1994) are clear. However, where that slice of infantile hokum was nauseating pure and simple, Stitches will leave you doubled up with laughter.
'Stitches' (Noble) is a down on his luck clown, making a living performing magic tricks at rich kid's birthday parties. Unfortunately at one such shindig 'Stitches' meets a gruesome end, after his show is literally cut short by the spoilt brats he has been paid to entertain.
Several years pass. The same kids - now all responsible teenagers (yeah, right) - are celebrating the birthday of one of their number with a typically raucous get-together. With the party in full swing they don't notice it has been gatecrashed by an old 'friend' with some particularly nasty tricks up his sleeve, and who is determined to make this a night to dismember for the birthday boy and his hapless guests.
Forget subtlety. The in-your-face, over-the-top crassness of Stitches doesn't even bother attempting anything remotely sophisticated. It is because of this approach however that it works. Where some modern horrors try to hide their schlocky viscerals behind a social message and deeper meaning, those like Stitches and the other recent gorefest Cockneys Vs Zombies (2011), wallow in their un pc'ness and full-on comedy carnage. The tone the film is aiming for is clear from the start as, before the opening credits have even begun, Noble's character in full clown mode is seen 'entertaining' a lady friend in his caravan. It's downhill from then on with virtually no one escaping 'Stitches' brand of cutting edge humour, though few live to hear the punchline as he makes short work of the sex mad, drugged up teens.
The roles of party-loving teenagers come naturally to the cast led by Tommy Knight and Gemma-Leagh Devereux - though this admittedly wouldn't be a push for most young people - whilst Noble seems born to play the potty-mouthed, wisecracking freak, a part again unlikely to stretch his abilities as an actor. It's the inventive murders however which really are the stars of the show, from ice-cream scooped brains to a guy having his intestines manipulated like a modelling balloon.
After watching this film you may understand why so many people suffer from coulrophobia, whilst clowns leave the rest of us in stitches!
Cleaver Patterson
Rating:18
DVD/BD Release Date:4th March 2013 (UK)
Director: Conor McMahon
Cast: Ross Noble, Tommy Knight, Eoghan McQuinn, Gemma-Leah Devereux
Buy Stitches On: Blu-Ray
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