STING: No Space Needed For This Spider

STING (Blu-ray)

2024 / 92 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat😼

Maybe I’m in the minority on this, but when it comes to horror movies, sometimes no explanation makes things just a little creepier. That fact that it’s simply happening is enough. When the dead rise up to attack the living, I don’t always need a plausible reason. 

Admit it…aren’t masked killers in slasher movies a little more terrifying without a motive? Weren’t the xenomorphs in the Alien franchise scarier when we knew less about them? And when it comes to spiders…do these eight-legged beasties require additional exposition to make us piss our pants?

Still, Sting explains-away its killer arachnid in the prologue. This is no ordinary spider, but a space spider that crashes through an apartment window inside a tiny meteor/egg. It’s a wholly unnecessary introduction to a creature that’s not only super-intelligent, but grows rapidly. Personally, I think presenting it as a simple freak of nature would have sufficed.

Other than that, Sting is a pretty decent killer critter feature that takes place entirely in a run-down apartment. Charlotte (Alyla Browne) is a 12-year-old who finds the spider while sneaking around through the vents. Naming it Sting, she puts it in a jar and feeds it whenever it “sings,” which is often. The more it eats, the faster it grows, and before long, the spider escapes the jar for bigger prey…including people.

John McClane was here.

The film then spends considerable time (maybe too much) introducing the supporting characters, including stepdad Ethan (Ryan Corr), a struggling comic artist who also maintains the building, and Charlotte’s mom, Heather (Penelope Mitchell). Others are basically one-note characters whose fates you’ll predict within seconds of their first appearance. Overall, the performances are satisfactory, though Jermaine Fowler steals the movie as a snarky exterminator. 

While Sting begins playfully, numerous scenes focused of Charlotte’s combative family dynamics tend to drag down the mood. But when focused on the creature’s hungry rampage, the movie is kind of a hoot. There are creative false scares and jolting real ones, along with some graphic nastiness punctuating attack scenes. As for the spider itself…I’ve yet to see CGI-created bugs that are very convincing and this movie’s no exception. But fortunately, Sting looks a lot cooler as it gets bigger because that’s when good ol’ practical effects take over…used sparingly but effectively.

Though the climax is clumsily foreshadowed way too early, it’s pretty exciting and comes to a satisfying conclusion. Pointless prologue notwithstanding, Sting is a well made, entertaining film that’s creepy without ever being truly terrifying. There are better movies featuring killer spiders, but this one’s far from the worst.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Creating the Monster; The Director; The Cast (titles are all self-explanatory.

TRAILER