STITCHES

Directed by Neal Marshall Stevens
Produced by Chuck Williams and J.R. Bookwalter
Written by Benjamin Carr

Mrs. Albright - Elizabeth Ince
Sam Gray - Robert Donavan
Kathryn - Maggie Rose Fleck

My biggest complaint of recent Full Moon releases has been the "kids-in-a-????" formula. We've seen Charles Band's castle stand in for homes, schools, museums, and warehouses. Say what you want about the man, he stretches that dollar to fullest and gets his money's worth. Chances are he's paid for that swanky pad ten times over.

It was never so much the Full Moon Formula that bothered me. It was the fact that Full Moon never even tried to hide the fact that each script was just a retread. Sure the villains looked different from time to time, but the cast was exactly the same shallow bunch from movie to movie. It never mattered who lived or died, all the characters were interchangeable. What's the next step down from "paint by numbers"? Finger paint by numbers?

STITCHES takes the old Full Moon Formula and gives it a new spin. Sure, we've got the single location, but this time it's called for. Would you believe that Full Moon has made a chamber drama? Neither would I if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. This is a somber character piece where the actors take center stage.

And what a cast of characters we have, there is a money-grubbing boardinghouse mistress who keeps her uneducated niece in indentured servitude, a mouse-like schoolmarm with repressed lesbian tendencies, and a little, old lady who's working for the devil.

The cast is noticeably older and experienced. They know how to downplay their scenes and never take the characters overboard, two problems the previous younger casts have fallen prey to. Unlike in those earlier films, STITCHES requires the actors to actually act. The cookie cutter has been cast aside in favor for individualism. The film couldn't work otherwise. It's the characters unique personalities that bring about their downfalls.

This is the first film from director Neal Marshall Stevens, whose resume lists the Laurel Entertainment television program Monsters, one of my all-time personal favorite shows. It's easy to see why he was chosen to helm this project; it feels like an extended episode of that very show. You've got the monster that comes calling for human souls and the unwitting mortals who aren't doing much with theirs. A common theme is every other episode.

While not as fast paced as the previous Full Moon release HORRORVISION, STITCHES goes a bit farther and gives the viewer something more, characters you care about. This is part of a collaborative series with Tempe Entertainment. It looks like Tempe is helping turn things around for Charles Band. I wouldn't even mind seeing that damn castle as long as Tempe could help keep things interesting.

You can learn more about STITCHES by going to the official website.
STITCHES
TEMPE VIDEO
FULL MOON PICTURES

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