Sting — Sting( Blu Ray)
Sting is a recent addition to the killer spider/ creature feature genre. It’s set in a New York Apartment block- where a tinny meteorite carrying a spider egg crashes through a window. The film is an entertaining shot of pop-corn horror, blending creepy-crawly atmospherics, light humour, some quite brutal/ intense moments of gory horror, with a family drama centre. Here from Studio Canal is a physical release of the film- coming as either a DVD or Blu-Ray release- I’m reviewing the latter.
Sting is from 2024, and it’s Australian/American production. It was written/ directed by Syndey-based Kiah Roache-Turner. He has to date a total of twelve credits to his name- three of these are full-lengths, with the rest being shorts. His features take in zombie horror meets Mad Max Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014), and Ghostbusters meets Shan Of The Dead of Nekrotronic (2018).
The film is set in a crumbling & rundown Brooklyn apartment block in the deep snow bond & freezing wind winter. It focuses on a twelve-year-old tom-boy Charlotte (Alyla Browne)- who lives in one of the apartments with her mum Heather(Penelope Mitchell), her baby stepbrother, and her bearded stepfather Nathan(Ryan Corr) who is a part-time caretaker/ comic book illustrator. Also in the block is her aging Alzheimer's bound grandmother, and her rather blunt/ unpleasant aunt.
When she is not drawing Charlotte likes to make her way through the apartment's large air vents- one day she goes into her aunt's department to find a small spider in a doll's house, so she takes it back to her apartment- feeding it cockroaches. She christened the spider 'Sting', as it seemingly stings, then grabs its prey.
Sting is growing at a rapid rate- as he’s sneaking out to attack parrots & large prey at nighttime. So she goes to ask her eccentric and monotone-speaking Asian neighbour who is seemingly doing experiments on fish, to ask him for a fish tank. And from here things go from bad to worse.
The family dynamic at the centre of the film is believable & not always wholly positive- like in real life. Around this, Roache-Turner builds a great feeling of creepy crawly unease- like the best monster movies you first hear the scuttling, see darting shadows, or just get glances at spider legs. As things progress, we get a few more brutal gore set-ups- with Sting forcing itself down the inside of residents' bodies, and general bloody attack/ batterings.
As the film moves on there are light touches of humour & quirky character traits- these never get too overwhelming, with the mix of horror and family drama kept even/ balanced. Also, towards the later parts of the picture, we get some corny/ but entertaining action elements and one-liners added into the mix too.
The relatively small cast is well-picked & good in their parts. With the films one hour and thirty-two minutes moving along well- I guess you could get fed up with the drama side, but personally, I think this helps you to get to know the characters- and then when the many-legged creature starts dragging, webbing, and kill people you do generally feel for them.
Sadly, this blu ray release has no extras- it would have been great to have a director/writer interview, or maybe even a commentary- as I had a fair few questions I’d like answered- like why was it set in New York, and was there any more of a back story to where the spider comes from. Oh well, you can’t always get/ expect extras.
As popcorn horror goes Sting is an entertaining & engaging affair, blending well creepiness, gore, memorable characters, and heart. I’ll certainly be checking out some of Kiah Roache-Turner's work, and look forward to seeing what he does next.