Film Name: Cleavers 3: Maximum Cleavage
Director: MJ Dixon
Writers: MJ Dixon
Starring: Holly-Anne Dodkins, William Marshall, David Hon Ma Chu, Lewis Cooper, Adam Lezemore
Locked away in a Maximum security prison, the infamous Killer Clown, Mary Beth Layton aka Lil Miss Cleaver is about to make a prison break that no one will forget.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds I got a chance to ask actor William Marshall a few questions about the film ‘Cleavers 3: Maximum Cleavage’ which will have its World Premiere at Horror- on-Sea on Friday 16th January at 20:00hrs.
Q. You play Cletus Sawney AKA Mr. Stitch in the upcoming horror ‘Cleavers 3 Maximum Cleavage’ which has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. What can we expect from the film?
A. Audiences can expect carnage, pure unadulterated carnage from the third instalment of the Cleaver franchise. MJ and the team have pulled out all the stops with this film from incredible practical set building, impressive visual effects, ambitious character design, gripping action sequences and character interaction, to produce a film that expands the Mycho horror universe to a whole new level. We have a host of returning characters from previous entries in the series and across other films, with new characters that audiences will love to hate. Cleaver 3: Maximum Cleavage is a horror fan’s dream, if that dream was taking a host of iconic slasher villains and putting them into Con Air (1997) meets The Suicide Squad (2021). It is an action-packed gore fest with witty humour, great world building and a bunch of “normal, innocent men/women”.
Q. You played the character previously in Slasher House 3. What first attracted you to the character and what made you decide to return for Cleavers 3 Maximum Cleavage?
A. I remember when MJ first spoke to me about being in Slasher House 3 (2024), that he had a host of new slashers that he needed to cast for the different houses. He showed me a variety of finished concept arts and asked who I liked the look of. I asked his opinion if there was a specific slasher he had me in mind for and he showed me the art of for Mr. Stitch. We spoke about his backstory, as MJ always creates a small bio for his slasher characters and instantly, I knew that I wanted to take the role.
What also sealed the deal was that Mr. Stitch would be fighting opposite Jacob Jakushi, played by David Hon Ma Chu, who I had worked with closely on Pandamonium (2020). David and I had built a strong working relationship both on and off set, so MJ was eager to have us work together and develop this rivalry between the characters for Slasher House 3, even thought it would only be for one small scene in the film. But I think we nailed it, and it felt as if we created this long-standing feud between these two slashers and when MJ told me that he planned for the character to return in Cleaver 3, alongside his bitter rival, I just couldn’t refuse to pick the meat hooks back up and slip on the skin suit once again. It’s rare that you find a character in indie horror that you get to play consistently in multiple films and after Cleaver 3, I fully believe that I have made the character of Mr. Stitch my own.
Q. What sort of preparation did you have to do for the role?
A. The focus for preparing to return as Mr. Stitch for me, was finding the voice and physicality of the character again after filming Slasher House 3 a couple years prior. Thankfully, this was made easier by MJ, David and I doing voice work on the first Mycho animation short, Slasher House 1.2: The Anime (2026), where we expanded more on the interactions and relationship between Jacob and Stitch during their time in the Slasher House before you see them in the main feature. Once, I received the Cleaver script from MJ I worked on breaking down my lines phonetically as to how Mr. Stitch would speak in his highland Scottish accent and began to develop his body language in a sort of predator like swagger, given that in his backstory he is known for hunting hitchhikers and travellers in the Scottish Highlands. I wanted to make his voice quite visceral, gruff, with snarls and growls on certain words or lines to give him that twisted and feral edge to his personality. I guess when we see the film, we’ll find out if I was successful what I wanted Stitch to become or not. Either way, I have had a blast playing the character and I look forward to potentially playing him again in future Mycho features.
Q. Are there any elements of the character which you feel reflect some of your own personality?
A. I suppose his dark sense of humour and twisted wit comes from a natural place and felt easy to portray for me. He is also quite reckless, blunt, direct and very quick to anger, these are all character decisions that I was incorporate from my younger mindset as a teenager and young adult. I think it is helpful to draw character development from your own past life experiences and utilise them in an effective and creative way whilst not letting the emotions of who you were affect the person you are today. I believe that emotional awareness and reflection is a very strong tool for any actor to have when they want to apply personal experiences or situations to their character development. I wanted to do that with Mr. Stitch in order to flesh out his emotional range and although he is a slasher villain, I wanted to give him elements of being human and hope the audience will be drawn to him on an empathetic level and seeing that there a greater layers to his character rather than just being an unhinged, feral serial killer.
Q. Did you make any changes to the character from how it was written?
A. Not that I can remember, me and MJ spoke about the character in more depth during and after Mr. Stitch’s first appearance in Slasher House 3: Rebooted. Other than putting forward that I wanted to a Scottish accent to MJ, he had written the character with me in mind. So, I feel as if this character has always been my own to portray and develop how I wanted and I have always asked MJ about what he has in mind for these new slasher villains. MJ always gives very vivid detail about a new character’s backstory which I think is a monumental factor into why the world building and character creation in the Mychoverse is so successful and memorable.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. There are so many to choose from but one stand out moment for me is the prison riot scene where the slashers go and do what they do best. It was great fun to take over as first AD and work with Ali Wilson on choreographing the fight sequences between the prisoners, guards and the slashers when they arrive to being the massacre. It’s great fun to kill others on screen when you are normally being the one murdered horrifically!
Seeing the script come to life scene by scene and help on the production aspects of piecing it all together as MJ’s AD was a very rewarding challenge, alongside being the on-set producer. I am very thankful that working on Cleaver 3 allowed me to develop and flex my other skills on set aside from acting. I look forward to doing it again on our next features. Getting to work with many returning cast and crew as well as meeting new additions to the Mycho family is always a highlight of these experiences. It is these people who you love working with that make the whole film making experience worthwhile and the support they offer is what keeps driving the production forward. There was a great sense of comradery, and everyone gave it there all no matter what was asked of them.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. We faced a few tough challenges during production, having a main cast member drop out close to the shooting dates was a real concern. But it was one that MJ had foreseen and thankfully we were diligent in promoting the opportunity to bring a new Mychoverse character into the fold, played by the fantastic Sonya Seva who nailed it from the off and was real breathe of fresh air. Having her bring Abigail to life was a joy to watch and we were massively thankful for her commitment at such short notice.
Then there was the set building. Everyday we faced the difficulty of finding the right space to work in at the Arts Central studio and constructing this towering prison block took the whole team’s involvement to get it done. We were conscious of shooting schedules and time every moment of the day and the set building, SFX rigging and working around the other studio occupants real are into the time we had set aside. Sadly, after one of the night shoots we returned to the chamber set to find that someone from the studio had vandalised our set in the night. MJ had to speak with the studio managers about the issue while Dave and I rallied the team to complete the repairs and everyone came together to keep morale high and push on with the shoot. These setbacks really tested everyone’s patience, commitment and drive towards our goal. But if it wasn’t for the amazing efforts of everyone involved this film would not have been made. MJ was such a trooper and we knew we had to rally behind him and show that these challenges wouldn’t break us and clearly it didn’t, because here we are with a film that I know everyone will be immensely proud of.
Q. Your character has an unusual haircut, have you ever considered growing this out permanently?
A. Funny enough, I have just booked my transplant and trip to Turkey! All jokes aside, I have had a couple of peculiar haircuts in Mycho films, none of which I would ever like to replicate with my own hair. Sadly, I don’t think I could grow my hair long enough to replicate Stitch’s haircut. However, when I was 18, I did have a similar haircut with a black mohawk. However, I will not be disclosing any photographic evidence of this.
Q. What makes Cleavers 3: Maximum Cleavage stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Well, I don’t know of many films where we meet a colourful cast of serial killers that break out of maximum-security prison and go on an unstoppable rampage of blood-soaked carnage, does anyone? Plus, the title alone is enough to draw any film lover’s attention for better or worse given the first impression of “Maximum Cleavage”. I think the ambition of the world building, the ensemble of iconic characters and the overall scale of this production set it apart from most in the indie horror scene. It’s loud, bold, gory, action packed, unapologetically insane and just tons of fun!
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I hope that audiences simply just have a great time watching Cleaver 3. I hope they recognise the effort we are putting in to take ourselves to that next level in production quality, storytelling, world building and I am sure that Maximum Cleavage will have them leaving excited and hungry for more Mycho Entertainment!
Photos by Asher Chan
Cleavers 3: Maximum Cleavage which will have its World Premiere at Horror- on-Sea on Friday 16th January at 20:00hrs.
You can find out more about Cleavers 3: Maximum Cleavage and purchase tickets for the film here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
