I finally got to check out Kiah Roache-Turner’s new mutant space spider horror Sting
Firstly, I will say that I really enjoyed Sting, it was a lot of fun although I did find it somewhat predictable but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. It follows Charlotte, a troubled teen who lives in a large apartment complex with her mother and stepdad. The stepdad is an aspiring comic book artist who has completed a new comic about Charlotte’s biological father in an attempt to build a bond with her.
When asteroids fall from the sky, a small fragment crashes through the apartment complex and smashes its way through the roof of a dollhouse in an apartment. This opening scene is superbly done as we notice that the astroid fragment is a small egg. As the credits roll, the egg opens and Sting appears and makes his way through the different floors of the dollhouse – foreshadowing that this little bugger may have the ability to get MUCH bigger than the little Itsy Bitsy Spider we see at the start.
Charlotte then breaks into the apartment of the dollhouse and sees the little spider, she calls it Sting and puts it in a jar. She then realises that the spider can mimic her whistle and this is Sting’s feeding call. When she hears that whistle she throws a bug to eat but every time Sting eats, it grows at an alarming rate. Before we know the spider is wreaking havoc on the residents of the apartment building.
Now, I thought there was an unbalance between the horror and the family drama which, in my opinion, took away from the spider horror. The special FX were fantastic, gnarly and very icky. The creepy crawly sound design gets right under your skin, making you itch and slap the back of your neck for fear of spiders crawling on it.
The film plays out like you think it would, almost a bit too much. The comedy also took away from what could’ve been a terrifying spider horror. Sting would be more along the lines of 8-Legged-Freaks but just a little more gruesome.
STING VS INFESTED
I don’t think we can really compare these movies. Yes, both are about spiders and both are set in an apartment complex but the tone and execution are what makes these completely different movies. Sting definitely offers more gore and spider ickiness but the comedy and predictability really take away some of the 8-legged arachnid terror. Infested offers us the Spider Terror – a film that was more along the lines of Arachnophobia. There was minimal gore but the film played on people’s terrifying phobia of spiders and, in my opinion, they nailed it.
Overall
I found Sting a fun watch but I really wanted more terror than comedy and family drama. It ended just like I expected although I saw the ending a mile away, I was happy that we may be getting another instalment of the could-be franchise. A few cinematic creases to iron out and I think Sting 2 has the potential to be up there with the best in spider horror.
6/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Don’t forget, folks, if you’re reading this article from Derry or the surrounding areas, Moviehooker will be showing Infested @ The Ritz Bar, 74 Spencer Road, Derry on the 18th of June. It starts at 8.30 and, as always, it is free admission. So, tell your arachnophobe friends we’re playing something different and come and scar them for life. I hope to see some of there.
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