Although Sting would be a more appropriate title for a movie about bees, this little horror is actually about spiders. For bees, you’ll have to check out the 2015 indie classic Stung or our list Fear The Buzzing: Killer Bee Movies. I am yet to compile a list of movies about spiders but more about that later. It’s time to see what we have here. Sting is a solid albeit stereotypical creature feature with a surprising amount of humor. We will be following a young girl who finds a spider and decides to keep it as her pet. Soon, the creature will start growing and praying on the residents of her apartment building.
You probably know not just what comes next but also how the whole thing is going to end. Sting offers little to no surprises, especially if you’re a fan of the genre. We will check every possible stereotype complete with a rebellious teen, a single mother, and her boyfriend who’s trying to prove himself. Did I tell you he’s also a comic book artist? Well, even if I didn’t it should come as no surprise. The quality of the special effects was good although I wish we’d seen more of the creature. On the other hand, our cast did a terrific job. Young Alyla Browne stole the show as Charlotte (Charlotte’s Web, get it) and I can see a bright future for her.
Jermaine Fowler and Ryan Corr were just as good. The pacing is good along with a short running time of ninety minutes. On top of that, the cinematography was really juicy and the camerawork was flawless. The focus was on point and the quality of the footage was exceptional, especially during the exterior shots. Sting is coming to us from the land down under and one of its best indie directors Kiah Roache-Turner. He’s the guy behind one of my favorite Aussie movies, Wyrmwood, and its sequel Wyrmwood: Apocalypse. Considering all of this, I have to admit that I was expecting more from this movie.
It’s like Kiah decided to make the safest creature feature possible. Then again, we can go by the old saying “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature”, no pun intended. What that means is that Sting is as cozy as it gets, offering a classic B movie experience. If I didn’t know any better I would say it’s a movie from the eighties. In that sense, it reminded me of Batteries Not Included. Not only does the story take place in a single apartment building but it also features the arrival of small aliens. The only difference is that the aliens in Sting are bad.
And don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler as that’s literally the first scene in the movie. Speaking of similar movies, I’m yet to watch the French movie Infested. As you can guess from the title, it’s about an apartment building that’s about to be overrun with spiders. The only question that remains is whether they will be big or small spiders. Moving on, Sting is a horror movie which means you can expect some pretty graphic scenes. I was actually watching this movie with a relative and she almost vomited during one of the scenes. I guess some people aren’t cut out for this gory stuff.
Finally, if you’re looking for movies about spiders you can check out Eight Legged Freaks, Infestation, and Arachnophobia. Sting even pays homage to that last one by having one of the characters wield a formidable nail gun. These are just a few movies that I’ve watched and that I feel comfortable recommending. There are a lot of others that I haven’t seen and that seems quite bad. However, that doesn’t mean anything. During my research for all those Natural Horror Lists, I would often stumble upon hidden gems with pretty low IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings. So, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can dive into the world of movies about spiders and see how you fare.
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
Writer: Kiah Roache-Turner
Cast: Alyla Browne, Ryan Corr, Jermaine Fowler, Penelope Mitchell, Noni Hazlehurst, Danny Kim
Fun Facts: Although Sting is set in New York, it was filmed in Australia. You can easily notice this if you look at how the cars are parked in the street and how the doorknobs are way higher than in the US.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20112746/
