Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with a special AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. I had a chance to check in with writer/director Conor McMahon about his new film STITCHES, which was recently released on DVD/Bluray. Here’s what Conor had to say about the film, why clowns are so scary, and other macabre things…

CONOR MCMAHON (CM): The film is about a clown, Stitches, who accidentally gets killed at Tom’s 10th birthday when he lands on a knife in the dishwasher. Six years later, and Tom decides to have another party to get over his fears. But once the party starts Stitches returns from the grave to get revenge, killing the teens in the ways they ruined his tricks.
BUG: I describe this film as STEPHEN KING'S IT meets CAN'T HARDLY WAIT. Would that be a fair description of the film?

BUG: What is it about clowns that you think makes them so damn scary?
CM: I think one thing is definitely the smile. You just can’t believe anyone is that happy all the time. They have to be hiding something. Maybe Shakespeare said it best: “to smile and smile and be a villain.” Again, I think with my generation IT definitely had an influence, too. If you saw that at a young age you never felt the same way about clowns again...or giant spiders.
BUG: What kind of research into clown lore did you do in making this film?

BUG: How did you come to choose Ross Noble for the title role?
CM: I’d always been a fan of Ross Noble’s stand up, and for Stitches I was looking for someone with both comic timing and who was physically funny. I sent him the script and he replied by saying “You had me at knife in the face”, so I knew he got the humor and vibe of the project. As it happened, Ross used to be a children’s entertainer, so he was able to channel that hatred he had towards children, and he could also do a few tricks like flipping the umbrella up with his foot, which we worked in. The only problem was that he was so good at juggling in real life it was hard for him to pretend to juggle badly.

CM: It’s true--lowns usually strike me as lonely figures or people who have had tough lives. I can’t imagine it’s particularly well paid, either, for all the abuse they get. When you think of a lot of comedians you also think of depression or mood disorders. Perhaps acting funny is a way to mask that side of things. There’s also something slightly depressing about the fact that some clown’s aren’t very funny, but are trying so hard to get attention. That said, it’s hard to compete when kids have iPads and a clown has a tickling stick.
BUG: There's a great balance of comedy and horror in this film. What's your secret to walking this tightrope?

BUG: You had some really imaginative kills in this film. Which one was your favorite?

BUG: Are we ever going to see a STITCHES II?
CM: If someone writes the check I’ll start figuring out how to kill some more kids. But it’s definitely something I’d like to do if the opportunity was there.

CM: I think what’s great about horror is that even within the genre there is such variety. I’d love to do an Irish supernatural film that’s just dark and scary. But I’d also love to push the boat out even further with the comedy gore, like the way EVIL DEAD 2 or BRAINDEAD did. So yeah, I think I’ll be sticking with horror for some time. Maybe when I’m 50 I’ll do my black and white famine epic.
BUG: Last chance: why should people check out STITCHES when it comes to BluRay and DVD this week?
CM: Because you get to see a clown pull someone’s intestines out and make it into a balloon animal.
BUG: STITCHES is available now on DVD and Bluray! Check out the trailer below and my review of the film after that!

STITCHES (2012)
Directed by Conor McMahonWritten by Conor McMahon, David O'Brien
Starring Ross Noble, Tommy Knight, Gemma-Leah Devereux, Eoghan McQuinn, Shane Murray Corcoran, Thommas Kane Byrnes, Roisin Barron, Hugh Mulhern, Tommy Cullen, Lorna Dempsey, Jemma Curran
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Having heard a lot of positive buzz about the new killer clown flick STITCHES, I was chomping at the bit to check this film out and afterwards, though I feel there are some pacing problems with this film, I think it did live up to its reviews calling it a cult classic in the making.

Flash forward to present day, and Tommy has become Tom and also developed a phobia of clowns (and rightly so). Deciding to have a birthday party, Tom invites the whole school, but one guest shows up uninvited—Stitches, back from the grave and ready to inflict clowny vengeance upon the kids who killed him.

Brains are scooped out with ice cream scoopers, intestines are made into balloon animals, and there’s an umbrella scene that takes the cake in terms of gore and creativity. One can tell the filmmakers had a blast coming up with each of these kills, which reflect the failed attempts and clowning from the original party at the beginning.

Though it takes its sweet time to kick into gear, once it does there are a ton of scares, laughs, and gore to enjoy. The humor hits its mark about 90% of the time, especially the personalities of the drunk kids at the party who make fun of Tom for being scared of clowns. And though I never really thought IT was very scary as a film, I do give it up that Pennywise’s visage is frightening. STITCHES taps into that pretty well without being an out and out ripoff, and does so by making the final hour a gore-filled rollercoaster ride through clown town until the end credits. STITCHES is filled with gags and gore and is sure to appease the gorehounds and spook the clown-o-phobes alike.




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