Stitch (2014)

good back-story, and good acting

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

To reconcile themselves with the death of their daughter, Serafina (Shauna Waldron) and Marsden (Edward Furlong) travel to a remote mansion in the middle of the desert. They indulge in a strange cleansing ceremony seemingly designed for them to come to terms with death by summoning it ('death is the infinite abyss of pure non-existence', they are reliably informed by their friend Parlino, played by Laurence Mason) in order to 'release the inner demon'.As you may expect, rather than end their problems, this only serves to increase them by apparently bringing into reality some spectral entity with the head of an animal skull. Among various visions, the face of the dead daughter's doll used in the ceremony is suddenly covered in gore and stitching. Pretty soon, Parlino's partner Colline (Shirly Brener) also finds the side of her face wrecked in a similar manner.It is only now they realise that travelling to this remote spot, with no nearby amenities (and of course, no cell phone signals) is not a practical idea. Especially as, possibly due to their strange ceremony, freak weather conditions appear to be signalling the end of the world. Well, why not? The fairly meagre budget is utilised with huge ambition, and many effects, especially the gore, verge from fairly convincing to highly impressive. My main problem is the sound levels, which vary considerably. There's nothing less likely to induce the kind of horror surreality 'Stitch Face' seems to be trying to invoke, than having to adjust the volume every few minutes. As the foursome start to sink into panic and recriminations, Marsden's heartfelt pleas to his wife are inaudible.As we move through isolation, infighting, a possible apocalypse, possession, living dolls and 'something in the cellar', it becomes clear that with this many ideas, there needs to be some mass revelation at the end to make any kind of sense of it all. As suspected, no true explanation really occurs and we are left with a tangle of often genuinely horrific set-pieces that leave us with a confused unease. There are many good things about this. The performances are fine even if the actors sometimes have to wrestle with some awkward dialogue. The concept of a haunted house always entertains me, and this must surely feature one of the ultimate examples of that. For instance, the awful image of a barely-dressed, provocative girl with the face and voice of a mangled demon is very impressive.Director/writer Ajai's film here reminds me a little of the work of the UK's Richard Driscoll. Ajai's work is a lot more original than Driscoll's, but they both share an over-abundance of ideas and an unwillingness to recognise when to stop. Amongst the melee, there is a lot of talent on display here, although some restraining, steadying influence would be hugely advantageous. 'Stitch Face' is over-crowded with incident, but remains a flawed yet enjoyable exercise.

Ha ha - interesting to read the reviews on this, because it is a love/hate experience.First up I'm in a barren location presented as real. Then the weird landlady lays some foreboding on me (I strain to hear her poorly recorded lines), and suddenly I'm thinking I've actually died and me watching this film is a version of Hell.Then I'm in an apocalypse, the end of days. Then a smoky creature chases me. Then I figure maybe it's all my fault, and the landlady lays some mystical exposition on me and I wake up and save myself.It does all tie up in the end, and it is quite touching. The final shot in the morgue made me suspect there's some real experience behind this concept.Apart from the landlady the actors don't create much of an impression. Can't remember when I've seen both leads being overweight. The editing is a bit crunchy, with some scenes stitched (!) together too tight and various little non sequiturs. No need to comment on the special effects.At one point it reminded me of Coherence, which also used the idea of parallel lives. But this has a different take, although I don't think it's really a horror either because there's no external agent.Overall if exposition is needed in the end it's a fail, but then most of us don't want to spend days figuring out the brilliance of another David Lynch nightmare.ps. I wonder if the eclipse image is a deliberate reference to Ringu?

I've seen every horror / slasher flick going, and there hasn't been a lot of innovation for a long time - most are incredibly formulaic. I genuinely see this movie as genre redefining, and was far away from any cliché I was expecting. Yes, some of the non-gore FX are clearly low budget, although they don't detract from the film, but the script, story, direction and acting are all excellent. The film is genuinely creepy, it keeps you guessing right until the end - when even after a few truly impressive twists, the film maintains intelligence, creative direction and - most importantly - scariness. It feels a lot like Phantasm (always a plus in my book), but more polished - but that classic creepy, weird "high-quality" 80's horror flick with great twists, morals etc. are way better than the 5.4 average rating I see at the moment. A solid 8+ higher if you love the genre. I'm an ex-pro movie-journo, I'm not giving this bonuses as a fanboy or anyone tied to the production - it really is clever, really creepy and really well acted and directed throughout. Spooky stuff.

As a fan, this was a hard movie to watch. As a critic, it was even a harder movie to watch. Edward Furlong has had a roller coaster of a movie career. Many big budget successes and low budget failures. In his support, Furlong gives a great performance, one of the better in the last 10 years. Sadly, since the movie is a low budget horror film that tries to be a fantasy, science fiction, witch craft, paranormal, and then other things all rapped into one, its hard to take anything about this movie seriously. Shawna Waldron has made a career of always giving 100% to every role she takes as well as brining legitimacy to every movie that she is in. As a fan, I hate to see waste of artistic talent. Shawna brings an audience to this movie but sadly loses members along the way. It is true that a low budget can hurt the quality of a good movie. Stitch is a perfect example of this. The story in itself may have worked but falls short with its over use of low end special effects which reminds the audience that they are watching a love budget horror movie that is aiming to be more than it is. I think the movie would have been better with less computer animated graphics. The movie has its moments of scary images, but with a lack of interest in taking the story serious, we are left with a movie that leaves us awkward. The casting of Tiffany Martin added to this. Both Waldron and Furlong both look like they can play 25-35 years old. Having their daughter in her early to mid teens did not do much for the realistic factor. I think the odd casting overall hurt the movie even though Waldron and Furlong both delivered good performances. Then again, I think they had very little to work with.