Stitch (2014)

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.

Maybe I watched a different movie, given some of the negative reviews but I thought STITCH rocked. I felt it was one of the most original horror films I've seen in a while.The story doesn't have anything to do with witchcraft or paranormal or fantasy or sci-fi or the kitchen sink. So other people who say that either didn't watch the whole thing or weren't paying attention. This was the first purely metaphysical horror movie I've seen since Jacob's Ladder. If you understand just a little of Zen Buddhism or western metaphysical thought, you will get this movie. Think of the themes of THE MATRIX (the world is not what it seems) but without the big sci-fi action environment. Replace said environment with low-budget horror and you sort of get close. And if you don't care about such ideas or themes, the movie still works. It hits all the right horror-thriller notes, with an extra bit of story depth for anyone who looks under the hood.It does have some low budget effects but so what. I remember the first time my friends forced me to watch the original TERMINATOR on DVD. I almost turned it off in the first two minutes because of the lame plastic-models-on-wires-masquerading-as-flying-vehicles (Hunter- Killers for T fans). But I'm glad I didn't because I was treated to one of my favorite movies of all time, low budget special effects be damned. Not saying that STITCH is a classic like THE TERMINATOR. Not even close. But it's miles above other horror films in recent memory in terms of story and overall concept. Acting is good and better than average for the genre. Effects and other production values are mostly good with only a few of the aforementioned weak spots. Overall... Original, thought provoking, scary and packing some emotional punch (especially if you're a parent).

This is my first comment on a movie but this movie was the biggest waste of time I have ever spent and I have to warn any one who thinks to give this movie any second of there time. It truly is one of the WORST movies I have ever seen. Don't waste your time as I did... PLEASE. After reading a couple reviews stating 10/10 and after seeing the art work for the movie I had to give it a look. Both were evil deceptions to get me to watch this trash. This movie has really really bad acting and equally bad special effects. I would be truly embarrassed to be Furlong and put out such crap!!

I've seen Stitch three times now. Not because I love it (but I now definitely like it).First time I watched it because I was at a friend's house and he forced me to. He loves horror movies, b-movies, weird movies and we hang out so I end up seeing a lot of junk. Was expecting Stitch to be awful but I actually thought it was okay. But nothing to write home about. So that was that.Then my friend told my girlfriend about it and she insisted on seeing it too. So a week later, I have to sit through it a second time with her.SPOILERS AHEAD.It was on this second viewing that I noticed something really weird. The first time we see a demonic entity, there is a large HUMAN EYE that appears in a window to the right of the entity. It's just there for a fraction of a second! So a day later I watched this movie very carefully for a THIRD TIME by myself and I see that there are "easter eggs" (story clues) sprinkled throughout! Never even noticed any of that on the first viewing. All the clues ultimately link back to a video game played by the dead daughter and to an operation she has at the end of the film. I won't spoil the rest of the clues. But they all makes sense. The story makes total sense. Kind of got me excited that stuff like that would be in a movie and go completely over my head until I looked closer.The first time I watched it, I thought the plot was just some throwaway horror with some decent scares. But there's a really interesting story here dealing with memories, dreams, emotions and how people live inside traumatic illusions. So I definitely like Stitch now. A lot. I can't bring myself to love it because Ed Furlong's in it and he's such a loser in real life. If they had another actor maybe I would love it.I recommend it though. I'm a sucker for movies that add in layers of clues. Mulholland Drive and The Usual Suspects are two of my favorites for that reason, though they are both very different kinds of movies than this one.