Summary

• Sting is a very entertaining throwback to the classic creature feature genre, packed full of shocking kills and chilling effects.
• Though it suffers from a familiar story and character development, the movie's tongue-in-cheek approach makes its blend of comedy and horror work.
• The movie's stylish direction and blend of practical effects and CGI are nicely reminiscent of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies and the classic Arachnophobia.

Despite being a consistent presence in the genre, spiders have rarely been given the central focus in the world of horror, instead being largely used for fake-outs and brief moments of comedic relief amid the ongoing terror. Of the ones that have made the arachnids the central foe, even fewer are taken seriously, whether it be because of their outlandish plots or strictly comedic tones, much like the cult favorite Eight Legged Freaks. With Kiah Roache-Turner's Sting, however, the creepy crawlers finally get a story that lands in the middle in regard to its tone.

Set in a decaying apartment building, Sting revolves around Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl struggling to adjust to living with her newborn younger brother while her mom and stepfather are busy working multiple jobs to provide for them. After discovering what appears to be a unique species of spider, a variety of deaths in the building make it quickly apparent there's more to the spider, which she's affectionately named Sting, than meets the eye. Blending a fairly familiar story with some thrilling set pieces, the movie feels like a fun enough throwback to the creature feature days of horror.

Sting Largely Keeps Its Tongue Planted Firmly In Its Cheek

Roache-Turner's script and direction never take things too seriously

Much like the aforementioned David Arquette-led comedy or the non-spider-focused Piranha movies, balancing a tongue-in-cheek tone with genuinely chilling set pieces is no easy task, but also not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Thankfully, between Roache-Turner's script and his energetic direction style, Sting is largely able to find the perfect middle ground between the two disparate feelings to keep audiences engaged across its 91-minute runtime.

Roache-Turner's writing approach feels like a nice throwback to Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick's work on the acclaimed horror-comedy Arachnophobia.

Utilizing its apartment building setting well with stylish camera movements and claustrophobic set design, Roache-Turner's direction feels largely reminiscent of Sam Raimi's breakout work with the first two Evil Dead movies. There's rarely a moment that feels dull, as the filmmaker not only offers plenty of chilling set pieces regarding the titular arachnid, but also plenty of compelling character interactions that jump between humorous and serious.

This tonal mix is also generally well-executed within the movie's script itself, as it seeks to explore the theme of a stepfather-daughter relationship with Ryan Corr's Ethan and Alyla Browne's Charlotte, all while reveling in the craziness of its killer-spider concept. Much like the direction being reminiscent of Raimi, Roache-Turner's writing approach feels like a nice throwback to Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick's work on the acclaimed horror-comedy Arachnophobia, trying to both have its cake and eat it too.

Sting's Story Ultimately Proves To Be Too Familiar

With a fairly basic setup and predictable character development, Sting never fully takes off

Despite its best efforts to explore these themes, though, Sting's story is just a little too generic. One of the most intriguing elements the movie sets up at the start is the fact that the titular arachnid is actually an alien spider, and as such possesses many unexpected abilities, including mimicking the noises Charlotte makes to it, as well as displaying exponential growth within just hours of her acquiring it. Rather than go deeper with this, the movie just slowly expands Sting's abilities in no meaningful way aside from delivering some shocking kills.

Furthermore, Ethan and Charlotte's relationship rarely feels like it's breaking new ground in the world of stepfather-daughter storytelling. Even recent blockbusters like the newly released Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire have explored this dynamic, albeit through a similarly basic lens of the new parental figure struggling to connect to their stepchild and learning the ropes of parenting. This familiarity is made all the more apparent as the stakes become deadly, and the duo must figure out how much they care for one another.

Sting's Effects & Kills Are Surprisingly Shocking

Despite its seemingly low-budget, the movie nicely blends CGI and practical effects

While some may be interested in seeing the family story at the heart of the movie, the onus for Sting's success ultimately lies on its spider-driven thrills, and Roache-Turner does an incredible job on this front. Though no figure has been shared, it does seem likely the movie was made on a fairly low budget, and yet when it comes to its titular arachnid, it never feels like the creative team behind it skimped out. In its smallest form, the production utilizes CGI in a way that feels effectively minimal.

Even as Sting grows and becomes a bigger threat, Roache-Turner and his team find a nice way to blend more practical puppetry to capture the character while also utilizing CGI to match the sheer scale of the creature. The kills themselves are also brought to life with a nice mix of the two, whether it be a carefully crafted puppet for the melted corpse of an apartment building pet, or a victim literally being torn from the inside out after the smaller version of the spider crawls in through their mouth.

All in all, for those who enjoy the mindless terror of creature features, Sting is a fun throwback to some of the genre's earlier hits. Though its characters and story could've benefited from a deeper, more original development, Roache-Turner ultimately knows what audiences are coming to see and delivers that in droves, offering horrific deaths, a tense atmosphere and stylish direction to entertaining effect.