Kiah Roache-Turner‘s Sting is one of those movies that combines the best of what Alien represents with the scares from Evil Dead: Rise. That’s because of all the unsettling prospect of coming across a desiccated corpse after a giant spider feasts on a bug. In this film’s case, they are animals and humans! But this isn’t your ordinary arachnid. It’s from space and its bite is lethal, hence this film’s name!
Just how this creature arrived is simple: the meteorite it was inhabiting punctured the rooftop of a building, and where it landed is almost akin to The Day of the Triffids. Although this tiny wonder found a child who says it’s cute, everyone is going to say otherwise, and that’s when the fun begins. Charlotte (Alyla Browne) is none the wiser about its desire to feast, but by the end, she’s able to save the day! When parents are not all that helpful, she’s pretty much on her own.
And to look at who in this tenament will not develop arachnophobia got me eager to see this film through to the end. As for grandma, I have a spoiler after this break…
…thankfully she’s safe! This creature feature isn’t sci-fi in its approach of giving the necessary info dump, and what’s presented is a reasonable film which pays homage to nearly everything creepy crawly done in the past. If that work involves walking through nasty drapes of webbing or slime, then his film has it all. There’s plenty of wacky neighbours for this spider to consider attacking, and as for who’s the next victim, at least I had fun placing bets.
The cooler claustrophobic moments include navigating through air ducts, and when young Charlotte is doing things she shouldn’t, I had to wonder if she would survive at all!
Nobody is safe, and I enjoyed watching the body count pile up. When someone from another floor raises the alarm bells, Frank (Jermaine Fowler), an exterminator, braves the elements to save the tenement. He delivers the comedic relief, and this is needed for those moments when things get hairy.
And when I had the video game Kill It With Fire (both the original and sci-fi sequel) in mind while viewing this film. How could I not when the end goal is to “stop” a spider infestation?
This home video release offers good bonus material. They provide great insights about the production, and for an indie film with Weta Workshop on board, I was impressed with all the details put into designing this spider from outer space. What’s expressed certainly has me thinking twice about what I should squash should I find one crawling at my home! I’ll catch and release them outside rather than turn them into mush.
4 Stars out of 5
Sting Movie Trailer
