by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
What would you do if you found a mysterious spider that kills effortlessly, grows every few hours as it eats, and can mimic any noise you hear? Well… I bet you wouldn’t keep it as a pet. But that is exactly what happens in Kiah Roache-Turner’s latest horror flick, Sting. We get a bit of Little Shop of Horrors, The Thing, and Predator as we see an object fall from space. But this time, it is a little sack with an alien spider, and it crashes into a rundown city apartment building and lands inside a dollhouse. After a fun opening credit sequence with the spider running around its new digs… the fun really begins.
The most important question to ask, though, is, does the movie scare you? It works on a few levels. First off, this spider is terrifying. Roache-Turner does the right thing and limits the amount of time it shows up onscreen. When the spider keeps growing, that tension does too. What will it look like in its final form? By the time the climax rolls around, this creature is nightmare fuel, and Roache-Turner is ready to show it off in its slow-motion glory. Then you have the lurking aspect. When will it show up next? Where will it creep into frame? These elements are quite unnerving. There is a surprising amount of character work in this film, so the scares are far between, but they deliver when they come around. You see all the results of the spider’s dirty work, and that body horror is hard to stomach.
There is definitely a scary spider, but is there a story to anchor this all together? Sting takes a simple approach to the story. Alien spider befriends a girl… then eats a ton of people. Simple. But the human element works well, which adds depth to the experience. The central story is of a mother/wife whose rebellious daughter from a previous marriage takes in the spider. The husband/stepdad is struggling with all aspects of his life, including connecting to his stepdaughter and trying to raise his biological baby. This situation creates an impactful amount of human drama. The details are familiar but effective. The rest of the characters in the building are set up perfectly as either empathetic victims or unlikeable characters who we want to see as cannon fodder. Roache-Turner never subverts or avoids familiar creature feature beats, but she handles them in an entertaining way. There is a decent amount of humor that gets thrown around, too, which works well in the film’s atmosphere.
From a technical perspective, what do Roache-Turner and her crew do to liven up the experience? There is some inspired camerawork, especially as the film navigates the spider’s primary mode of transportation: the air ducts. The way the camera moves through this tight space is engaging and interesting. There are a few poignant shots, including an in-focus character in the center of the frame and an out-of-focus giant spider dangling down from the ceiling behind them. Some solid editing conceals the spider in its final form as much as possible. Lighting issues in the ducts which literally don’t allow you to see anything make it hard to feel the tension, but overall, Roache-Turner strongly builds the tension throughout the film.
Is Sting a worthy addition to a growing collection of quality 2024 horror landscapes? It sure is. It is not the most unique or deep creature feature out there, but certain elements are done well enough to make it stand out. The human drama is handled with care and gives weight to the danger of the giant alien spider. The actual spider is quite terrifying and there are some great moments that showcase the potential of the concept.
Rating: Liked It
Sting is currently playing in theaters
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