It is a strange coincidence that in the same year two nunspolitation films (Immaculate and The First Omen) were released close together, the same has happened with two spider-centric horrors. Infested/Vermines was released on Shudder at the end of April and just over a month later Sting now arrives in cinema. However, while both are set in an increasingly neglected apartment complex with the residents having to fight against a spider infestation alongside personal conflicts, that is where the similarities end.
In contrast to the mix of heightened tension and social realism in Vermines, Sting has a darkly comedic and brutal tone set up in its opening scenes with a forgetful elderly resident calling an exterminator to remove whatever is noisily hiding in the walls. Almost a short film in its own right, it is a promising opening that balances broad comedy with a willingness to be mean to its characters.
We then flash back to where the story actually begins as an asteroid storm causes an Alien-looking egg to crash into a Brooklyn apartment. The spider that emerges from it is quickly collected by Charlotte, who has sneaked into the apartment and swiftly escapes through the vents, allowing us to handily meet the numerous inhabitants of the building including her mother Heather, six month old brother, Liam, and comic book artist step-dad Ethan. Secretly caring for her new pet (named Sting) causes increasing problems as it (and its appetite) begins to grow leaving Charlotte trapped in a web of her own making.
It’s hard to resist the fun of this heightened creature feature and stands out as a studio horror well worth seeing in the cinema
As evident from his previous work, director Kiah Roache-Turner balances a tongue-in-cheek tone with the squishy horror. He has great fun with ‘fake out’ scares, that are sparing enough to avoid being grating, without compromising the stress-inducing tension. Even Charlotte’s name for the spider, Sting, is inspired by her glancing at a copy of The Hobbit, which is an even funnier joke knowing that the spider was created by WETA workshop, who had worked on Peter Jackson’s film series. Far from a Shelob clone, Sting is a formidable creature that is scary even to non-arachnophobes. As a practical effect, it adds literal weight to the tension and a genuine presence for the actors to react to.
Creating a practical monster further allows it to fit in with the dystopian-looking apartment complex and the overall moody aesthetic. Set in a snowy Brooklyn, the outside is as inhospitable as the inside adding to the feeling that no-one is safe. Frank the exterminator’s ominous warning to Charlotte that “Spiders can’t love – they only eat and kill” taps into the subtextual desire to survive built into the human inhabitants. Familiar but not friendly with each other, their isolation from each other makes them easy prey for Sting to pick off one-by-one in increasingly gross and gruesome ways.
Somewhat less effective is mashing this callous horror with family drama reminiscent of classic Amblin films, mostly down to the shallow characterisations. Ethan and Charlotte have a familiar and formulaic stepfather/daughter dynamic that forms the basis of the emotional storyline, but it is too thin to carry the weight of the film. This weakness is more evident with the side characters that largely rely on stereotypes, no matter how hard the actors try to add dimension to their parts. Nonetheless, it’s an effective formula with Aylya Browne giving an incredible lead performance as Charlotte and has great rapport with Ryan Corr as Ethan that sells their developing relationship.
Much like Studio Canal’s horror release from last year, Evil Dead Rise, the camera whizzes around the apartment sets (which are either impressively practical or a cleverly edited composition of isolated rooms) and keeps the pace moving. Roache-Turner uses his clear familiarity with horror to keep things entertaining and inventive, such as a doll house sequence akin to the opening of Hereditary. So, as an overall experience, it’s hard to resist the fun of this heightened creature feature and stands out as a studio horror well worth seeing in the cinema.
STING IS IN CINEMAS NATIONWIDE FROM MAY 31ST
