Bob's Quick Look: Stitches (2012)

In this horror/comedy from Ireland, a disgruntled party clown is killed as a result of a practical joke at the hands of a group of children he is trying to entertain. Six years later, he returns from the grave on the eve of the boy’s birthday party to exact his revenge of the children who caused his untimely death.
*Spoiler Alert* Think of the basic setup of the teen slasher flick, make the killer a supernatural clown, use your imagination, and you can get an idea of what your gonna get with this movie. It’s basically Beetlejuice meets Scream with a lot of blood and gore. Like most horror films of this type, the story is pretty simple, which is a good thing. With an 86 minute run time, an overly involved plot line would only slow down the movement of the film, especially in a movie going more for laughs and splatter. The cast performance is adequate, but even though this film was shooting for humor along with the horror, I did feel there was a certain lack of fear and terror in some of the actors that left me wanting, especially in a couple of characters I wanted to see get mauled horribly. I did like the humor aspect of the film, and it did succeed in making me laugh. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Stitches makes a sundae out of a victim’s brains. There is also no shortage of gore in this film, which will satisfy most, if not all the gore fans out there. The story is a very simple one, but it is rooted in an idea that some could argue could have been developed into a much more serious story. The main character does research into the history and mythos of clowns to explain something he saw when he was a child, and in doing so, introduces the viewer to a cult type secret society of clowns which explains Stitches’ ability and need to return from the grave. I’m a fan of what some might call “torture porn” but I can see where some would say this was an oversimplification of an idea that could have been taken to greater lengths. I was a little surprised to be able to catch this one in the theaters. I was expecting to have to wait till Blu-ray release to see it, but as luck would have it, a theater in my area ran a midnight release of the film. There is something to be said for bloody gore splatter on the big screen, and I definitely felt I got my money’s worth. I knew what to expect; a lot of blood and some dark humor that kept me laughing. It’s not a movie to make one think or challenge social issues or ideas. It’s a movie to watch over a pizza with some friends. Some say it could have been more, but what we have works well enough.

I would recommend this one to fans of gore based horror. Rated R for strong violence and gore, adult language, some sexual content and drug content involving teenagers.