PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I’ve been a huge fan of Kiah Roache-Turner since his first film Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead. I followed his career ever since from his demon/Ghostbusters pastiche Nekrotronic to Wyrmwood: Apocalypse. I’ve been anxiously awaiting his killer spider film Sting since it was announced a couple years ago. Now the wait is over. Sting is finally here.
STING (2024) Synopsis
One cold, stormy night in New York City, a mysterious object falls from the sky and smashes through the window of a rundown apartment building. It is an egg, and from this egg emerges a strange little spider…
The creature is discovered by Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl obsessed with comic books. Despite her stepfather Ethan’s best efforts to connect with her through their comic book co-creation Fang Girl, Charlotte feels isolated. Her mother and Ethan are distracted by their new baby and are struggling to cope, leaving Charlotte to bond with the spider. Keeping it as a secret pet, she names it Sting.
As Charlotte’s fascination with Sting increases, so does its size. Growing at a monstrous rate, Sting’s appetite for blood becomes insatiable. Neighbours’ pets start to go missing, and then the neighbours themselves. Soon Charlotte’s family and the eccentric characters of the building realize that they are all trapped, hunted by a ravenous supersized arachnid with a taste for human flesh… and Charlotte is the only one who knows how to stop it.
Sting was written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead). The film stars Ryan Corr (Wolf Creek 2), Alyla Browne (Furiousa), Penelope Mitchell (Hellboy), Robyn Nevin (Relic), Noni Hazelhurst (The Mule), Silvia Colloca (Van Helsing), Danny Kim, and Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening).
I’ve been looking forward to Sting for a while now and am very happy to report that it doesn’t disappoint. Sting feels like Critters 2, just played more seriously and with a tad more gore. I’ve never been the biggest fan of killer spider films, but Sting plays things a bit differently. We are tossed into a story about a family that is struggling to connect and going through tough times and that’s before the killer spider shows up. The family feels extremely believable, which is a credit to Roache-Turner’s writing as well as the acting of Ryan Corr, Alyla Browne and Penelope Mitchell. It means we actually give a shit about them when the killer spider shows up, grows up and starts working his way through the pets and tenants in the family’s building. At this point we get some truly nasty moments.
The film isn’t all gore and family drama. Jermaine Fowler from The Blackening (our review) shows up a couple times as an exterminator and provides some much needed comic relief when things get a little too serious. I really loved that the full grown Sting was a practical puppet. What I’ve always loved about Kiah Roache-Turner’s work is his reliance on goopy practical effects and I’m glad that given a bigger budget he still chose to go this direction. It made the threat in the film feel much more real and it’s definitely a sight to behold. If I saw a spider like this in real live I would be utterly terrified.
Final Thoughts
As a huge fan of Kiah Roache-Turner’s previous work I’m very happy that the effects were kept practical. Sting definitely shows his growth as a filmmaker by doing something more emotional and serious while also keeping the aspect of fun that was so prevalent in his earlier features. To sum up my thoughts, Sting is emotionally gripping, gruesome and fun. Highly Recommended.
Sting releases on April 12, 2024. Watch for it!
