Sting: Film Review
Arachnophobes beware! There’s a new spider horror in town named Sting and it’s definitely not one for you.
One day, an alien spider crash-lands in a Brooklyn apartment and is discovered by Charlotte (Alyla Browne), who decides to keep it as a pet called Sting, named after a sword in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. She keeps Sting in a jar and feeds it cockroaches and it increases in size at an alarming rate. The cockroaches soon aren’t enough for Sting’s appetite and it roams the apartment block looking for its next meal.
This film excels at building dread and tension because you don’t know when and where the spider will pounce next. It follows a similar format to most building-based horrors in that people and animals are slowly picked off one by one – until a certain point. Then, it pulls the rug out from underneath you and makes you realise anything can happen. The rule book has been abandoned!
The first kill was easily the standout sequence. It was gross and horrifying, making me gag and my skin crawl. I just wish it maintained this level of gruesome body horror. The rest of the kills were tamer by comparison, some happened off-camera and they felt quite similar and obvious once the creature had reached its full size.
Sting actually takes the time to establish the core characters before the horror kicks off. There is a solid and heartfelt family drama at its core between Charlotte and her stepdad Ethan (Ryan Corr). She is an unusual, angsty teen and he is trying to find his footing with her. This relationship builds a strong foundation for what happens later.
Sting is an enjoyable and occasionally funny creature feature that needed to up the ante with the gore for me to feel totally satisfied.
In cinemas from Friday 31st May