View source for Stitches (2012 film)


{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}

{{Infobox film
| name           = Stitches
| image          = Stitches 2012 movie poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical movie poster
| director       = Conor McMahon<ref>{{cite web|title=Conor McMahon Casts British Comedian Ross Noble in 'Stitches'|date=8 November 2011 |url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/stitches-ross-noble-tommy-knight-258773|publisher=Hollywood Reporter|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>
| producer       = {{plainlist|
* Julianne Forde
* [[Brendan McCarthy (producer)|Brendan McCarthy]]
* [[John McDonnell (producer)|John McDonnell]]
* Ruth Treacy
}}
| writer         = {{plainlist|
* Conor McMahon
* David O' Brien
}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Tommy Knight]]
* [[Ross Noble]]
* [[Gemma-Leah Devereux]]
* Shane Murray Corcoran
* Thommas Kane Byrne
* Eoghan McQuinn
* Roisin Barron
* Hugh Mulhern
* John McDonnell
* Tommy Cullen
* Lorna Dempsey
* Jemma Curran
* Ryan Renolds
}}
| music          = Paul McDonnell
| cinematography = Patrick Jordan
| editing        = Chris Gill
| studio         = {{plainlist|
* Fantastic Films
* Tailored Films
* Solid Entertainment
}}
| distributor    = {{plainlist|
* Eclipse Pictures (Ireland)<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 September 2012 |title=''Stitches'' (2012) |url=https://www.ifco.ie/en/ifco/pages/9CA41AA400505F07 |access-date=15 October 2025 |website=[[Irish Film Classification Office]]}}</ref>
* Signature Entertainment (United Kingdom)
}}
| released       = {{Film date|2012|10|26|UK|df=y}}
| runtime        = 86 minutes
| country        = {{plainlist|
* Ireland<ref name=bfi>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/50c30a776c4a0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915134918/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/50c30a776c4a0|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 September 2016|title=Stitches (2012)|work=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>
* Sweden<ref name=bfi/>
* United Kingdom<ref name=bfi/>
}}
| language       = English
| budget         = $2,000,000<ref name=numbers>{{cite web|url=https://the-numbers.com/movie/Stitches#tab=summary|title=Stitches (2012)|work=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>
| gross          = $63,555<ref name=numbers/>
}}
'''''Stitches''''' is a 2012 [[comedy film|comedy]] [[slasher film]] directed by Conor McMahon and written by McMahon and David O'Brien. It stars [[Ross Noble]], [[Tommy Knight]] and [[Gemma-Leah Devereux]], with Shane Murray Corcoran, Thomas Kane Byrne, Eoghan McQuinn, Roisin Barron, Hugh Mulhern, John McDonnell, Tommy Cullen, Lorna Dempsey, Jemma Curran, and Ryan Burke in supporting roles.<ref>{{cite web|last=Oden|first=Ike|title=STITCHES DOES KILLER CLOWNS THE UK WAY|date=5 October 2012 |url=https://joblo.com/horror-movies/news/stitches-does-killer-clowns-the-uk-way|publisher=JoBlo|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref> The plot concerns a young man dressed as a birthday clown returning from the dead to exact revenge upon a boy and a group of children/teenagers who contributed to his death.

The film was produced by Fantastic Films and Tailored Films in 2012 and marks the film debut of Tommy Knight and [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up comedian]] Ross Noble.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kemp|first=Stuart|title=British Stand-Up Ross Noble's Movie Acting Debut 'Stitches' Gets U.K., Ireland Distribution|date=29 May 2012 |url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/ross-noble-stitches-uk-distribution-330349|publisher=Hollywood Reporter|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Clarke|first=Donald|title=Killer punchlines|newspaper=The Irish Times |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2012/1012/1224325172239.html|publisher=Irish Times|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>

The film is an international co-production between Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.<ref name=bfi/> McMahon began working on the film after receiving a €600,000 grant from the [[Irish Film Board]], also utilising funding from MEDIA Europe.<ref name="IFTN">{{cite web|title=Conor McMahon's 'Stitches' To Receive Irish and UK Cinema Release|url=http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4285013&tpl=archnews&force=1|publisher=IFTN|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref> Filming for the movie took place in Ireland.<ref name="McNary">{{cite web|last=McNary|first=Dave|title=Fantastic, MPI in 'Stitches' deal|date=8 November 2011 |url=https://variety.com/article/VR1118045808|publisher=Variety|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>

''Stitches'' premiered in Dublin, Ireland in September 2012 and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2012.<ref name="iftn.ie">{{cite web|title=Conor McMahon's 'Stitches' To Receive Dublin Premiere|url=http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4285317&tpl=archnews&force=1|publisher=IFTN|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>

==Plot==
Richard Grindle, a clown with the stage name "Stitches", is having sex with a woman in his camper. During intercourse, she notices an egg encased in a glass tube with a face painted on it. Stitches explains that "they" made him do it when he signed up. Stitches arrives late at Tommy's tenth birthday party. He attempts to entertain the children, but they instead ridicule him. Tommy's best friend Vinnie ties Stitches' shoelaces together, and Tommy throws a soccer ball on his face, causing him to trip and land on a kitchen knife on the other side of the room, unseen to the children, which penetrates his face. As the children come to find out, Stitches slowly gets up, revealing the knife lodged in his eye. Seeing him, all of the kids scream in terror and run away. However, Tommy stays; when Stitches removes the knife, blood gushes out of his head. After it stops bleeding, he attempts to stab Tommy, only to slip on a puddle of blood. Stitches falls on the floor as the knife falls into his eye a second time, killing him. Tommy visits Stitches' grave to put a squeaky flower on top, only to find a group of clowns entering an abandoned building. Tommy enters the building to find the clowns performing a ritual with Stitches' egg. One member discovers Tommy and brings him to the cult's leader, The Motley. The Motley warns Tommy that a clown who dies without finishing the party will never rest in peace, and a joke is not as funny the second time.

Six years later, Tommy is preparing for his sixteenth birthday. He is still haunted by the memory of his past birthday, and begins to have frightening hallucinations, such as a teacher turning into a clown and ripping off Vinnie's [[genitals]] before tying them to a party balloon. Hesitating at the idea of throwing a large party, he considers instead inviting only a few friends. Ultimately, he settles on a large gathering, and Vinnie secretly distributes many more invitations over the Internet. Tommy, Vinnie, Richie and Bulger, all of whom had been present when Stitches died, prepare the house. As the guests, including Tommy's childhood crush Kate, arrive for the party, Stitches comes back to life and leaves his grave.

Tommy, startled by Paul dressed as a clown, injures his head. Bulger goes to find Tommy a first-aid kit, while Tommy retreats to his treehouse followed by Kate. There, Tommy discusses his memories of the ritual he had encountered as a child. Meanwhile, Paul is attacked by Stitches, who rips off his ear and one of his arms and pulls a live rabbit out of his throat before kicking his head off. The clown then finds Bulger, opens up his skull with a can opener, and removes his brain with an ice cream scooper. Sarah, Paul's girlfriend, enters the attic to look for him. There, she is attacked by Stitches, and manages to fight back. As she tries to escape, Stitches drives an umbrella through her skull, killing her. Through his telescope, Tommy sees Stitches in the house, and goes to warn Vinnie of his presence, but is at first unsuccessful, due to Vinnie's desire to have sex with a formerly overweight classmate. Tommy tries to warn Kate and the other partygoers, but they don't believe him.

Outside, Stitches attacks Richie. Richie attempts to flee but trips and falls. Stitches rips out his intestines and fashions them into a balloon animal before stabbing him with a bike pump and inflating him. Stitches manages to pump enough air into Richie to cause his head to explode. Vinnie, on discovering Tommy to be telling the truth, attempts to leave, but Stitches attacks them. Tommy stabs him, Vinnie covers him with a blanket, and they escape. Tommy and Vinnie rescue Kate, but Stitches knocks her unconscious as they attempt to escape. Tom tries to resuscitate her, and Vinnie leaves them behind, and Stitches attempts to drown Tommy in a sink that Vinnie had previously vomited in. Kate awakens and throws a knife at Stitches, while Tommy deduces a manner in which to defeat the clown; to kill him, they must destroy the egg he kept in his van. Tommy and Kate, pursued by Stitches, make their way to the den in the graveyard. While hiding, Tommy begins to hiccup, and Kate kisses him in order for him to stay quiet. Tommy searches for Stitches' egg among a collection of them while Kate keeps an eye out for Stitches, but the pair are soon discovered by him. 

Stitches has Tommy and Kate cornered and asks the two of them if the look on Tommy’s face watching Kate die or the look on Kate’s face watching Tommy die is funnier. Tommy suggests flipping a coin, heads being Tommy and tails being Kate. Stitches agrees while Vinnie ties his shoelaces together again. Tommy then flips the coin at Stitches, causing him to trip and drop his egg. Tommy then forces Stitches to smash the egg, causing him to explode in a mixture of magic trick supplies and yolk. Six months later, Tommy has moved to a new house and is dating Kate. While the couple are in Tommy's old treehouse, Kate gives Tommy a new telescope, and his old one is positioned to focus on the den in the graveyard, where The Motley pieces Stitches' broken egg back together, implying that he will return.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Tommy Knight]] as Tommy 
**Ryan Burke as Young Tommy, 10 years old
* [[Ross Noble]] as Richard "Stitches" Grindle
* [[Gemma-Leah Devereux]] as Kate 
* Shane Murray Corcoran as Vinnie 
* Thommas Kane Byrne as Bulger 
* Eoghan McQuinn as Richie
* Roisin Barron as Sarah 
* Hugh Mulhern as Paul 
* John McDonnell as The Motley 
* Tommy Cullen as Dan 
* Lorna Dempsey as Mary
* Jemma Curran as Jenny
{{div col end}}

==Production==
{{expand section|date=January 2016}}
McMahon began working on ''Stitches'' after receiving a €600,000 grant from the [[Irish Film Board]], also utilizing funding from MEDIA Europe.<ref name="IFTN"/> Filming for the movie took place in Ireland.<ref name="McNary"/>

==Soundtrack==
The score was composed by Paul McDonnell.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stitches {{!}} Cast and Crew {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stitches_2012/cast-and-crew |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}</ref> "Dream Conjecture" was written and performed by Jonathan van Atom. The film's soundtrack also features the 1986 song "[[(I Just) Died in Your Arms]]" by the English [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Cutting Crew]]. The party scene also features the song "Funk Epidemic", written by Danny Groenland, Conor Doherty and Ken McCabe and performed by Irish group Mob Fandango.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stitches Soundtrack (2012) |url=https://www.soundtrack.net/album/stitches/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=www.soundtrack.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Stitches (2012) Soundtrack |url=https://ringostrack.com/movie/stitches/71000 |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=RingosTrack |language=en}}</ref>

==Release==
''Stitches'' premiered in Dublin, Ireland in September 2012.<ref name="iftn.ie"/> It received a [[limited theatrical release]] in the U.S. under the distributor Dark Sky Films, and in Japan under Shochiku. The Japanese title of the film translates as ''The Dead Clown Goes Mad''. In France, the film's title is ''Dark Clown''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=209033.html|title=Dark Clown - film 2012|website=[[AlloCiné]]|language=French|access-date=1 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemafantastique.net/Stitches.html|title=Dark Clown - Stitches (2012)|author=Damien Taymans|website=Cinemafantastique.net|language=French|access-date=1 June 2017}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Critical reception===
''[[Starburst (magazine)|Starburst]]'' rated it 6/10 stars.<ref>{{cite web|title=Movie Review: STITCHES|url=https://starburstmagazine.com/reviews/latest-reviews-of-movies/3207-movie-review-stitches|publisher=Starburst Magazine|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=6 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006055420/http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/latest-reviews-of-movies/3207-movie-review-stitches|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Entertainment.ie]] rated it three stars and commented on the influence of "80s slasher flicks" on the film.<ref>{{cite web|title=Review: Stitches|date=October 2012 |url=http://entertainment.ie/movie-review/Stitches/142731.htm|publisher=entertainment.ie|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>  [[Bloody Disgusting]] wrote that the film was "destined to become a cult classic" and carried "heavy [[replay value]]".<ref name=BDR>{{cite web|title=[BD Review: Clown Slasher 'Stitches' Destined To Become A Cult Classic!!|date=18 October 2012 |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3197240/bd-review-clown-slasher-stitches-destined-to-become-a-cult-classic/|publisher=Bloody Disgusting|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref> [[Dread Central]] in particular praised the film's kill scenes, calling them "brilliant" and remarking that they were done "with such a rigorous sense of care and detail".<ref>{{cite web|title=Review: Stitches (2012)|date=30 August 2012|url=https://dreadcentral.com/reviews/stitches-2012|publisher=Dread Central|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=8 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008025739/http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/stitches-2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Criticisms for the movie revolved around the film being "an incredibly low budget production" and the plot being "nowhere near as fun as it sounds on paper".<ref name=BDR /><ref name=TFR>{{cite web|title=Sitges 2012 Dispatch: MANIAC Crowds, STITCHES and SLICE AND DICE: THE SLASHER FILM FOREVER|url=http://twitchfilm.com/2012/10/sitges-2012-dispatch-dispiriting-maniac-reactions-slice-and-dice-the-slasher-film-forever-and-stitch.html|publisher=Twitch Film|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=11 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011234752/http://twitchfilm.com/2012/10/sitges-2012-dispatch-dispiriting-maniac-reactions-slice-and-dice-the-slasher-film-forever-and-stitch.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Screen Daily]]'' commented that the "horror stuff is obvious, but staged with showstopping flair and buckets of blood".<ref>{{cite web|last=Newman|first=Kim|title=Stitches|url=http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-latest/stitches/5045635.article|publisher=Screen Daily|access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>

==Accolades==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of awards and nominations
! Award
! Category
! Nominee
! Result
|-
| rowspan="2" | Fright-Fest 2012 and [[Sitges Film Festival|Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival 2012]]
| Best Death and Midnight X-Treme || Conor McMahon (Director) Fantastic Films (production company) Tailored Films (production company) - Conor McMahon || {{Won}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.stitchesmovie.com}}
* {{IMDb title|2126362}}
* [http://www.tailoredfilms.ie/ Tailored Films Website]

[[Category:2012 horror films]]
[[Category:2012 comedy horror films]]
[[Category:2012 films]]
[[Category:2012 British films]]
[[Category:2012 English-language films]]
[[Category:2010s exploitation films]]
[[Category:2010s slasher films]]
[[Category:2010s supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:2012 Swedish films]]
[[Category:British black comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy horror films]]
[[Category:British exploitation films]]
[[Category:British films about revenge]]
[[Category:British ghost films]]
[[Category:British slasher films]]
[[Category:British splatter films]]
[[Category:British supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:English-language Swedish films]]
[[Category:Films about cults]]
[[Category:Films about mass murder]]
[[Category:Films about parties]]
[[Category:Films about undead]]
[[Category:Films set in 2006]]
[[Category:Films set in 2012]]
[[Category:Films shot in Ireland]]
[[Category:Horror films about clowns]]
[[Category:Irish black comedy films]]
[[Category:Irish comedy horror films]]
[[Category:Irish exploitation films]]
[[Category:Irish films about revenge]]
[[Category:Irish monster movies]]
[[Category:Irish slasher films]]
[[Category:Irish splatter films]]
[[Category:Irish supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:Slasher comedy films]]
[[Category:Supernatural comedy films]]
[[Category:Supernatural slasher films]]
[[Category:Swedish black comedy films]]
[[Category:Swedish comedy horror films]]
[[Category:Swedish films about revenge]]
[[Category:Swedish slasher films]]
[[Category:Swedish splatter films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy horror films]]
[[category:British teen horror films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Stitches (2012 film)|access_date=2026-03-06}}