Film Review: STITCHES (2012)

Richard “Stitches” Grindle (Ross Noble) is probably the worse birthday clown that money can buy.  During what should have been a standard birthday party for a young Tommy (Ryan Burke) and all of his friends, an accident happens leaving Tommy witnessing the death of Stitches in his own home.  This is how Irish horror film STITCHES (2012) begins.  Years later, Tom (Tommy Knight) is now grown and in high school but still suffering from having witnessed the death of Stitches in his house especially since his birthday is near.  Tome has become a recluse who has lost most of his old friends or they have distanced themselves from him but his best friend Vinney (Shane Murray-Corcoran) convinces him that its time to throw a party to get over his past and to help him rekindle the friendship of Kate (Genna-Leah Devereux), his crush from when he was a little kid.

When Stitches returns from the death to avenge his death on all the people responsible, Tom must over come his childhood fears in order to find a way to defeat Stitches before he kills all of his friends and Kate.   

Although the actors are all young, they come off as very genuine teenagers just getting into teenage things.  Written by David O’Brien and Conor McMahon (who also directs) the film is actually a pretty effective and funny horror film for fans who like good gore-gags.  There is little to no suspense to be had in the film but that doesn’t seem to actually be the point as it’s most interested in crafting interesting and realistic characters (and not caricatures) while also being an entertaining thrill ride with equal parts comedy.

The film definitely has an Irish flavor to it but that’s what sets it apart from the average US production and gives the film atmosphere and character.

Web Series Review: HELL’S CIRCUS Part 1 – “Playing in the Woods”

I love web series when they are done right.  What’s not to like about a serialized story broken up in many different parts that keeps you on the edge of your seat from one episode to the next?  Web series remind me of the old serials that ended in a cliff hanger that had you on the edge of your seat until the next episode was released and you (finally) got to see how the main characters get out of their cliffhanger from the previous episode.  Unfortunately, the first episode of the web series Hell’s Circus (titled “Playing the Woods”) does nothing to set up the premise of the series or present a story that you haven’t already seen a thousand times before.

The story starts with a group of friends arriving at their camp site ready for a night (or maybe longer but it isn’t really made clear) of drinking and fun.  They wonder around a lot aimlessly until that night when they have a campfire drink-fest which has three of the guys venture off into the woods (briefly) only to return claiming that one of them heard footsteps in the woods.  As two of the friends go to their car to grab the gun they have stashed in the car, the episode ends before reaching the five minute mark.

That’s generally it.  No real set up for the premise.  None of the characters are established.  No one does anything to make the whole story interesting or at least suspenseful or scary (this is, after all, a horror web series with clowns).  It’s all a bland set up for (hopefully) something more sinister to come (because at least the web series has a great title in Hell’s Circus) but there is no indication in this premiere episode why I should even bother to wait for any more.  This episode lacks the drive and determination of a suspenseful horror story and its cluttered with clichés and barely established characters.  The rest of the production values aren’t much better as the audio levels are all over the place and the harsh red lighting of the campfire scenes call attention to themselves, and not in a good way.

The series is from Sitrep Productions and is written and directed by Francheska Arroyo who has a rough road ahead in terms of getting audiences hooked on this web series.  This being said, the entire cast do seem like they’re having fun and if future episodes do start to focus on character and suspense then when the clowns finally show up it may have been worth the wait.

You can catch the latest episodes of the web series on the Sitrep Productions Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/sitrepmovies/